


Under The Lights

by NoBusinessWriting



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Football, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:47:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27927733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoBusinessWriting/pseuds/NoBusinessWriting
Summary: Another high school AUIt's Nicole's senior year of high school and her family just moved to Purgatory, a small town in Texas. She wants to try out for the football team, but she doesn't know how that will go in conservative Texas. Not that anything else matters when she can't keep her eyes off of head cheerleader Waverly Earp.
Relationships: Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 122
Kudos: 435





	1. Chapter 1

Nicole dreaded the idea of coming out to an entire school again. It's not that things in California were bad since coming out, they were great actually, but the drama she went through the first time encompassed her whole sophomore year. Things finally went back to normal her junior year and she didn’t want to waste her last year of high school dealing with the stress of coming out. At least now her parents knew she was a lesbian, and she wouldn’t have to worry about coming out to them again. They were, for the most part, accepting. After falling out of the closet, trying to go back in, and being pulled back out, Nicole and her family had an understanding that Nicole was a lesbian and it was okay, just not talked about often. Honestly, she was okay with not talking about it because it was still an awkward topic of conversation. Nicole's parents loved her and she knew that, but they weren't the type of family to have deep conversations and get personal about things. 

Maybe coming out to people she had never met would be easier than when she told the people she had known her whole life. Maybe if she was upfront about everything in the beginning, she wouldn't really need to come out; she would simply present as her queer self. She hoped her subtle cues of androgynous style, cologne, “I Love Boobies!” bracelet, and rainbow flag in her Instagram bio would tell people without actually having to do it herself. Obviously, stereotypes are not always true and lesbians don’t have a defining look, but in this case, Nicole hoped to be stereotyped.

The part about moving that worried Nicole the most was the culture shock of going from liberal California to conservative Texas. The world was becoming more progressive and accepting, but Texas seemed like a world of its own. Nicole was stunned by the obscene billboards they passed by while travelling to her new home: “Have you read my book? There will be a test. – Jesus”, “Love your babies… born & unborn”, and the one that scared her the most “Marriage = 1 Man + 1 Woman”. She tried putting the billboards to the back of her mind in order to keep her from going back in the closet. She had no interest in returning to hiding her life after being out for nearly two years. Despite her fears, Nicole went into her situation with an open mind in hopes of making the best of her senior year and her new school.

Nicole was popular at her old school. She was always surrounded by friends, she was the star of the soccer team, and even the kicker for the football team. All of the time she spent playing soccer for three different teams while growing up gave her a strong leg with great aim. What started out as a dare to try out for the football team her freshman year developed into a passion. She quickly fell in love with the game and it became the highlight of every year. She had been looking forward to kicking for her school's varsity team for the fourth year in a row, now wondering if she would get to play at all. She wasn't sure if she would even be allowed to try out for the team in a town where there were set gender roles: boys were football players and girls were cheerleaders, but that wouldn't stop her from trying. 

Nicole grunted “ten” as she pushed the bar up from her chest and placed it on the rack. Sitting with elbows on her knees she wiped at her brow, sweat falling down her face from the heat and lack of air circulating in the makeshift gym in the garage. Football try-outs were a week away and she had been working out every day twice a day for the past two weeks since her family moved into their new home in Purgatory, Texas. A town small enough to have only one high school, but big enough to have a Wal-Mart. Nicole was used to her loud and busy city life but was finding comfort in the quiet small town she would now call home. 

Her family was able to settle in fairly easy with how friendly everyone in town had been, alleviating some of her initial fears. Granted, no one knew about her sexuality yet, but she was trying to be positive. She found it impossible to go anywhere without being waved at by a stranger or getting asked “Are y’all new to town? Welcome!”. It was different than anything she was used to, but charming.

The kindness of everyone in town gave her hope when it came to making new friends. Since school didn't start for another two weeks she hadn’t met anyone her age until that morning when she finally met her neighbor Chrissy who just got back from a cheer camp the day before. It was a short meeting because she was in a hurry to get somewhere, but she seemed nice and a good contender for a friend. 

Nicole stood from the bench to continue with her scheduled workout: warm up, kicking, strength training, and cardio. She secured her phone to her arm as she pressed her headphones into her ears blasting an upbeat song. She slicked her sweaty red hair back from her face, readjusting her half up ponytail and securing her black headband to tame the rest of her hair that sat about an inch above her shoulders. 

She took off down her driveway and went on the same four mile run she had gone on every day since she moved there. Her route took her through surrounding neighborhoods where she received a handful of waves and smiles and brought her to the two-mile turn-around point, the high school. The high school was a large building with two levels that looked recently renovated with mostly windows. Although the school was nice, it was nothing compared to the football field that sat next to it. To Nicole it seemed uncharacteristic of a high school football field and resembled a college stadium, but this is Texas, where football is a way of life.

Seeing the football field every day further motivated her to push herself in her training. Nicole’s mental strength never faltered, and it was easy for her to slip into the mindset of mind over matter, pushing past the pain. Testing her physical boundaries was something she did often as she focused her mind on success, visualizing her victories. Nothing could break her focus. Well, typically. Her eyes drifted to the group of cheerleaders practicing next to the field as she ran by, eyes landing on the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. She slowed her pace in order to continue staring at the girl with long wavy brown hair, taking mental notes of her toned figure, sparkling eyes and captivating smile. She couldn’t look away and felt a rush when the brunette locked eyes with her. Nicole smiled at the girl who in return gave her a shy smile that quickly turned to a grimace. Nicole didn’t have time to think about it further as she ran straight into a building, smacking her head and falling backwards. 

Nicole groaned an “ouch” as she continued to lay on the ground with her eyes closed, fearful of what she would see when she opened them. 

“Young lady are you okay?”, she heard the voice of a man approaching her. She opened her eyes as she rubbed her forehead but didn’t dare glance back towards the other girl for fear of dying from embarrassment. Nicole looked up at the man who was now reaching a hand down to her. He appeared to be in his forties with a baseball cap covering short black hair and sporting a polo shirt with the Purgatory High Blue Devils logo above the words ‘Coach Earp’. Nicole instantly recognized the name due to his status of ‘town celebrity’. The high school football coach. She internally kicked herself for her horrible first impression. 

“Yeah, I think I’m okay. That building came out of nowhere.” Nicole said with a laugh as she grabbed the man’s hand. “Thank you” she finished. 

The man laughed with her. “You’re welcome”

“Coach Earp..” Nicole said pointing out his shirt, “You’re the football coach, right?”

“I am. Looking forward to leading those boys to victory this season. We’ve been robbed the last 3 seasons of a champion title, but I’ve got a good feeling about this year.” 

“Boys, right… Sir, I know you don’t know me, and this may seem forward, but I just moved here, and I would like to try out for your team.” The confident front that Nicole normally put out was close to cracking from a combination of the embarrassment from the fall and the vulnerable position she was currently in.

The man looked shocked and chuckled, “The football team? I think you hit your head a little too hard” 

Nicole’s shoulders dropped a little, “I played at my old school, I have a lot of experience, and a great record” She said a little desperate.

“I don’t know where you came from, but the boys around here will eat you alive. I’m sorry, but I can’t be held responsible for a girl getting hurt.”

Nicole shook her head “I’m a kicker, I wouldn’t be getting tackled.” Nicole was scrambling, trying to change his mind “I’m a hard worker and my field goal percentage is 91.”

The coach stared at her with a blank expression. “You’re a kicker?” he pondered. 

“Yes, sir” Nicole came back confidently.

“91%?” The coach asked, interest now piqued. 

“Yes, sir” Nicole repeated with a smile.

“What’s your name?”

“Nicole. Nicole Haught, sir.”

“Nicole, I have never had a girl on my team before. The thought has never crossed my mind. Thinking about it now, I could be the laughingstock of the district if I had a girl on my team. I could get a lot of kick back from my boys and the parents. It could cause a lot of problems for me.”

Nicole nodded with sad eyes and her lips in a straight line, “I understand”. 

“But you know what I hate more than a bruised ego and upset parents?” The coach continued. 

Nicole just started at him

“Losing” he answered “and if my kicker has a 91% field goal average and helps my team win football games, I don’t care if that person is a girl or a boy. I’ll tell you what. You can try out. If you’re the best kicker at the try-out then the position should be yours.” 

Nicole’s face lit up with a smile and shock as she reached out to forcefully shake the coach’s hand. “Thank you so much sir. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this opportunity” 

“I hope I don’t regret it, but if it was one of my girls trying to reach a goal, I wouldn’t want anyone standing in their way.” 

“You won’t regret this sir, thank you again” Nicole beamed. 

The coach smiled softly “It was a pleasure to meet you Miss Haught, I’ll see you in a week.” As he motioned to tip his baseball cap, he turned to walk into a nearby building. 

Nicole tried to keep her cool and not let what she was feeling inside show on the outside by jumping and screaming with joy. She couldn’t handle any more embarrassment for the day. Buzzing with excitement she readied herself to run home. She nervously bit her lip as she turned around, ready to face the cheerleaders who just saw her face plant into the building but was relieved to see that the girls were gone. Nicole started her run home visualizing her success at the tryout while smiling at the frequent thoughts of the cheerleader came into her mind. Nicole never anticipated finding a love interest in Purgatory, Texas, but having an unrequited crush could be fun and harmless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time writing fanfic, or anything really. I discovered Wynonna Earp a couple months ago and to say I have been obsessed since is an understatement. This fandom is amazing, and I thought there is no greater community to be so vulnerable and put out writing for the first time. The thought of someone making it this far and reading something I have written is scary but exciting. As this is my first time writing, I encourage any and all feedback. Let me know if you like it or if it sucks! I truly thank you for taking the time to read my work.
> 
> \- E


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is Waverly's POV. I don't know if I plan to keep switching back and forth or what I want to do yet. I think as I continue throughout the story I will decide who's POV I want you to see the most. Which may include both, I'm not sure yet. Enjoy.

Waverly smiled as she brought her fork to her mouth, listening to her family playfully go back and forth about her sister’s new proposed plan to make their basement into her bedroom. Waverly couldn’t help but feel grateful for everything in her life as they all sat at the dinner table together, a nightly tradition. She had the most loving parents. Her mom, Michelle, the one person she could always look to, who supported her no matter what. The type of person who emits a warmth that makes everyone feel special. Her understanding eyes showing you that you are truly seen and heard. Which is probably why she’s so great at her job. 

Her dad, Ward, ‘Coach Earp’, who on the surface appeared hard and tough, running the hardest practices in the state, but anyone who actually knew him knew how big his heart was and how much he cared. The amount of love and effort he put into the lives of ‘his boys’ was inspiring. He was the closest thing to family some of them had and he pushed them towards greatness. Waverly would feign embarrassment with all of the attention she got from her dad being the football coach, but she couldn’t deny how proud she felt to be his daughter. 

Waverly admired her parents and strived to attain even a fraction of their selflessness. They created a safe space of a home that was inviting and welcoming to all. Their love for each other was pure and made Waverly believe that true love exists. Waverly hoped to find a love like theirs one day. A love that, despite everything wrong with the world, grew and fought for good. A love story that began with her dad asking her mom to be hers after winning the championship football game their senior year of high school. A story they told often. 

Wynonna, her sister, was one year older but in the same class as Waverly. She was held back for a second round of 4th grade due to, according to Mrs. Olsen, “an abnormal amount of energy and a lack of focus”. After a diagnosis of ADHD and some meds she does just fine, even if half the time she sells her Adderall for extra spending money. Waverly and Wynonna fought like any sisters would, but she was happy they were in the same grade and had similar social circles. They had a strong bond because they shared nearly everything together. Which, due to Wynonna’s loud mouth wasn’t always the best thing. 

Waverly felt like everything was in place for her senior year. Her family was great, she was head cheerleader, she had just finished up applying to colleges, and most importantly, she was free. She could finally focus on herself and the things that made her happy. It’s not like Waverly didn’t have fun before, but college and working towards an academic scholarship always came first. She had been so disciplined, with meticulous delegation of her time to school, cheer, friends, family, and sleep. In that order. She deserved to indulge a little her senior year and not overanalyze everything. Simply, just do what she wanted. 

Waverly brought her attention back to the conversation in front of her. 

“All I’m saying, is that it would give me the independence that I need as a 19-year-old woman.” Wynonna pressed. 

Ward gave her a blank stare. “Girl, you are something else.”

“Thank you, exactly. This is why I need my own space. See, mom. Dad gets it.” Wynonna said with her arms up looking towards her mom. 

Ward just laughed and shook his head.

“Sweetheart, you are not living in the basement.” Michelle intervened. 

“BUT”

“End of story.” 

Wynonna rolled her eyes and gave Waverly a kick to the shin under the table in response to her snicker. To which Waverly shot her a middle finger while her parents weren’t looking. 

They ate in silence as Wynonna’s loss settled for a moment. Michelle asked about everyone’s day. Not out of obligation, but true interest. 

“I had an interesting interaction today.” Ward started.

“Oh?” Michelle asked sipping her glass of wine. 

“I met a young girl. New to town.”

“Wow dad, so interesting.” Wynonna dragged with an exaggerated eye roll.

Ward playfully smacked her on the back of the head.

“And” giving Wynonna a pointed look “she told me that she wants to try out for the football team.” He finished with raised eyebrows and a smirk in anticipation of their shock.

“What?” “Huh?” simultaneously came from the women in front of him as they all stared at him in bewilderment. 

“Yep” he chuckled. 

“At first I was taken back and told her no… but her stats are great.”

“Wow, Ward. That’s going to cause a lot of controversy.” Michelle replied with an uneasy tone as she set down her glass. “Are you sure about this?”

“I checked, and there are no rules against a girl being on the team. So, there is technically nothing wrong with it.” Ward said with his hands out in contemplation.

“I kept thinking about our girls and someone standing in their way. Who am I to make that decision? Upset players and fans are nothing we haven’t dealt with before. I’m not giving her a position as a political statement. I’m simply letting her try out, as a football player, to see if she’s good enough for the team. She deserves the same chance as the boys.” 

“You’re right, honey. I think that’s great.” Michelle said shooting a smile at her husband.

“What girl would want to try out for the football team?” Wynonna said in confusion.  
“All the sweaty guys and butt smacking….” She smiled. “Hey can I try out for the team too?” 

“Absolutely not.” Ward said strictly. 

“Are you talking about that redhead?” Waverly spoke up.

“You know her?” 

“No, I was at cheer practice and I saw you help her after she fell.” Waverly chuckled as she remembered the abrupt collision. “I guess she’s Chrissy’s new neighbor, but that’s all I know about her.” She finished with a shrug.

Waverly didn’t know why, but she wanted to know more about the girl. She kept picturing the smile the redhead sent her way earlier and now her interest was piqued even more. 

“Aww, well isn’t that nice. Ya’ll will have to make sure she feels welcome. If she’s a football fan I’m sure she’ll fit in just fine in this town.” Michelle said, always wanting everyone to fit in. 

“Or stick out like a sore thumb. A girl football player with red hair? Yikes.” Wynonna exaggerated with a raise of her eyebrows and wide eyes.

“Seriously, Wynonna? Do you have to be such a jerk?” Waverly responded.

“I’m just being honest. You don’t even know her, why do you care?” 

Waverly felt in a strange way like she did know her. Maybe she just felt bad for a stranger that didn’t have the chance to defend herself. 

“I don’t. I just want to give her a chance before exiling her and deciding she’s an outcast. That’s all.” 

“Okay! Make me seem like a jerk.” Wynonna said shooting her hands up in defense. 

“But you know, I don’t know how I feel about some girl being on the team and hanging around Dolls all the time. I mean, I’m not insecure, but men are men. ” Wynonna continued with a look for irritation.

“Is she pretty?” Wynonna looked at her dad. 

Ward gave her a confused look and rolled his eyes as he took another bite of food. Wynonna then looked towards Waverly. 

Waverly tried to fight a smile “Yeah, she’s pretty.”

“God dammit.” 

“Language!” Ward shot out.

“I’m sure the reason she wants to play football has nothing to do with stealing your boyfriend.” Waverly said matter of fact.

“Oh, easy for you to say now that you have nothing to worry about.”

Michelle coughed on her food with her hand over her mouth.

“Did Champ get hurt? Is he not playing this year?” she asked with concern directed at Waverly.

“He’s fine, mom.” Waverly replied with a sigh. 

Michelle gave Waverly a look as if expecting a response. 

“We broke up.” Waverly shrugged.

“Oh Honey, what happened?” Michelle asked with empathy in her eyes.

“That boy” Ward said, slamming his hand against the table “I swear I’ll make his life a-

“Dad I broke up with him.” 

“Nothing happened. I just didn’t want to be together anymore. I don’t know… I just didn’t…” Waverly pondered. 

“Like having sex with him?” Wynonna offered nonchalantly. 

“Wynonna!” Waverly shouted with wide eyes.

Ward stood abruptly “Okay. On that note, ladies. I am going to excuse myself. I’ll be in the basement watching game clips. Please do not feel the need to further update me on this conversation.” 

Waverly hid her face in embarrassment as she watched her dad walk down the stairs to the basement. 

“What is wrong with you?” She asked in a punching whisper. Hitting Wynonna in the side of her arm as she turned back to face the women at the table.

“What?!” Wynonna asked incredulously, “It’s no secret that your sex life with Champ was garbage.”

“WYNONNA” Waverly said with anger and shock. Overly embarrassed at her mom being present for this conversation. 

Waverly was furious. “At least I haven’t had sex with—

“Girls!” Michelle interrupted, “I think you should both stop talking before you say something you both end up regretting.”

Waverly and Wynonna glared at each other in silence. 

“Apologize.” Michelle waited in silence. “Both of you.”

They reluctantly shared an apology. 

“You know, I would be dumb to think that you girls aren’t sexually active—

“Oh my god, mom, do we have to talk about this?” Waverly groaned.

“I know that you are young women, who have needs and—

“Mom!” 

“I just want to make sure that you’re being safe and—

“Yep, totally are!” Waverly replied quickly, trying to quiet her mother while standing to get away. 

“You know, when your father and I—

“Ugh, Gross, mom. stop!” Wynonna said in disgust with a gag at the end. 

“I’m going to Chrissy’s! Bye!” Waverly said in a hurry. Grabbing her car keys on the way out of the house. 

“Be back by curfew!” she heard her mom call out. 

Waverly sighed with relief as she sat in her car. Now safe from having ‘the talk’ with her mom. She definitely did not want to continue any conversation with her mom that had to do with her and Wynonna’s ‘needs’. Waverly shuddered. Somehow, they had managed the past three years of high school without talking to their parents about sex. Probably because their parents knew they learned about safe sex in health class freshman year. Along with the 8th grade family consumer science class where they were taught abstinence and recited the chant ‘it’s okay to think about sex, it’s okay to talk about sex, it’s okay to develop feelings about sex, but it is not okay to have sex’ at the beginning and end of every class. Which, the more she thought about it, was super weird. 

She absentmindedly moved her keys around in her hand. She stopped on the little heart keychain Champ gave her when they first started dating sophomore year. She couldn’t help but feel guilty for ending things. He was so heart broken. He didn’t do anything wrong, but nothing was right. It was two years of playing pretend and nothing felt authentic. It was like she was going through the motions of what she thought someone was supposed to do in a relationship. Everything felt staged and done because it was what was meant to come next. Having sex after a year felt like an obligation instead of an expression of a love, leaving her feeling empty. It all felt so fake. She knew she wasn’t happy with Champ, and she finally built the courage to end things and step out of what had been her comfort zone for the past two years. 

Waverly wanted to start her senior year as a more authentic version of herself and do things that made her happy. When she broke up with Champ there was a weight lifted from her chest that she hadn’t realized was there. She didn’t realize the extent of her unhappiness until she was free. The past two weeks gave her a feeling of joy and lightness that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Waverly needed to remind herself that what she did was okay. Choosing her happiness was okay. She took the keychain off of her keys, tossed it to the side, and started the ignition. 

\-------

Waverly settled onto her friend’s bed “Thank you so much for letting me come over. I could't stay at my house and listen to my mom talk about my sex life any longer.”

Chrissy laughed a “no problem.” 

“At least your mom is so chill and open about things though!” Chrissy tried, “My dad just suggestively puts pamphlets under my door for touchy topics. Like the ‘Menstruation and Me’ pamphlet when I was 11 and my personal favorites that came before I started high school, ‘Save The Drama, Don’t do Marijuana’ and ‘Keep Calm and Condom On’” 

They fell into a fit of laughter. Chrissy wiped her eyes laughing “Oh the joys of growing up with a single dad. Gotta love him.” 

“Your dad is seriously the best.” 

“Yeah, he’s not too bad. Other than when he threatens any boy that I’m seeing with jail time.” 

“Speaking of boys you’re seeing… have you seen Perry since you’ve been back?” Waverly asked with a wiggle of her eyebrows. 

“Ugh, no. He was too busy training today. I don’t see why he’s so worried about making the team when he was a starter last year. Whatever, football comes first I guess.” She finished with a shrug.

“Speaking of football, guess who is trying out for the team.” Waverly said with a little excitement in her voice. 

“Who?” Chrissy wondered, pretty sure she knew everyone who played. 

“Your neighbor!”

Chrissy looked confused and stuck in thought.

“Nicole?” She questioned with a scrunched up face.

“Oh is that her name?” Waverly smiled at the thought. 

“Wait a second. Nicole is trying out for the football team? How do you know that?” 

“My dad told me. I guess she talked to him today when he helped her up.” 

“Poor girl.” Chrissy laughed with a sympathetic look and a shake of her head. “That’s crazy though. I wonder if she’ll make it. Can you imagine a girl on the Purgatory High football team?” 

“Yeah I don’t know. Kind of hard to imagine, but also.. badass?” Waverly offered. 

“Totally.” Chrissy said in confident agreement. “We need to know more about this girl. Let’s creep her insta.” 

“How are you going to find it? Do you know her last name?”

“No.” Chrissy thought, “but I know who will.”

Chrissy opened her bedroom door to yell out “Hey daddy, what’s the new neighbors’ last name?”

A faint ‘what’ was heard coming from the main floor.

“WHAT IS THE NEW NEIGHBORS’ LAST NAME?!”

Chrissy looked back at Waverly

“I think he’s losing his hearing, he’s getting so old.” She exaggerated with an eyeroll. She turned back to yell “DA-

“Chrissy, if you need to talk to me, would you please act like a civilized human and come down the stairs.” 

“Hello, Waverly.” He continued with a nod in her direction.

“Hi, Nedley!” Waverly said in a chipper voice and big smile. 

“Dad, what is the new neighbors’ last name?” 

“Oh, Haught.”

“I’m sorry, what’s hot?”

“Their name is Haught.”

“Their name is hot?” Chrissy asked in confusion. “Like, cool? I’m sorry dad, but that’s not what people say anymore.”

Chrissy’s dad sighed. “H-A-U-G-H-T, Haught.” 

“Ohhhhh…” Chrissy drew out. “Thanks daddy!” Chrissy pecked him on the cheek and pushed him out while closing the door.

Chrissy plopped down next to Waverly on the bed as she pulled out her phone. As Chrissy typed ‘Nicole Haught’ into the Instagram search bar Waverly couldn’t help but feel excited. Surprisingly there were several Nicole Haughts, but Chrissy found her account quick. Waverly laughed as Chrissy referred to herself as a professional social media investigator. 

Nicole Haught, bio: (palm tree)(football)(soccer ball)(rainbow flag)

As if seeing the last emoji at the same time they quickly turned to look at each other. 

“Do you think she’s…?” Chrissy asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Maybe?” Waverly asked uncertain. All of the sudden feeling nervous for some reason. 

“Let’s investigate.” Chrissy said looking back towards her phone. 

Most of Nicole’s pictures involved her playing soccer or football, group pictures with her friends or teammates, a few selfies, and some screenshots of her favorite Spotify playlists. Nothing very revealing or personal. 

Chrissy turned her head to the side to listen “Did you hear that?”

“What?” 

“Ugh, my dad is trying to talk to me. Seriously? After his speech a little bit ago?” Chrissy said with annoyance in her voice. “I’ll be right back. Keep investigating.”

Waverly was kind of glad she was alone to look at some of the pictures. This way she could take a little more time to look at them instead of quickly scrolling through like Chrissy was. There was something about Nicole that was so alluring. Something she had never seen in someone before. Waverly couldn’t put her finger on what it was. 

Waverly kept scrolling and stopped on a picture of Nicole and a couple of guys from the football team with their shirts off. All of them. Seeing Nicole in that way, black Calvin Klein sports bra, toned abs, and the sweaty post game look. Waverly felt warm everywhere and the only word she could associate with this feeling was…desire. Waverly had never felt this way after seeing a picture of Champ, or any guy really. It was like something finally woke up inside of her. A new form of want that she had never experienced. 

“Why are you blushing?” Chrissy said as she walked back in her room.

Whatever smile Waverly had on her face vanished. “I’m not.”

Chrissy snatched her phone from Waverly before resuming her position. “Ohhhhh” Chrissy said with a knowing smile. “Yeah, these guys are hot. Waves, I think you’re ready to hop back on the horse and find yourself a new man.” She said with a wink.

“Oh, yep” Waverly chuckled with relief “Too bad they don’t live here.” She said with a fake pout and a shrug. 

“Look at this comment- ‘Shhhae: So glad I get to call you mine (heart eyes emoji)’ This is a clue!”

“A clue?”

“Yes, a clue for our investigation!”

Chrissy clicked on the commentor’s account: Shhhae, bio: Shae. Stanford. Soccer. Sagittarius.  
The first several rows of photos were mostly selfies and a lot of soccer pictures. 

“Maybe this was a false lead…” Chrissy said in disappointment while scrolling through pictures. 

Waverly shook her head with a smile at Chrissy’s investigative lingo. 

“Or not! Bingo!” Chrissy said in excitement as she landed on a picture of Nicole and this girl kissing. Waverly’s gut dropped and she felt overwhelmingly jealous and sad. Something bright she just discovered within, shut down by a picture. She felt crazy all of sudden. What was happening to her? She didn’t even know this girl. Why was she feeling this way? And why was she trying to make herself feel better by reminding herself that Nicole had no pictures of the other girl on her Instagram?

“I think our mission is complete.” Chrissy said satisfied.

“So it’s a mission now?”

“Doesn’t matter. Nicole is definitely a lesbian!”

“She could be bi. Or pan. Or queer, or -

“Regardless, she is a lady lover. This is great! Honestly, our town needs some more diversity.”

“Yeah, I just hope everyone feels that way about it.” Waverly stated truthfully, aware of the closed mindedness of some of the people in town. 

“I know, but I think the people of Purgatory have learned to become more accepting ever since Jeremy came out a couple years ago.”

“That’s true” Waverly nodded.

“Good thing she has a girlfriend already because her dating pool here would be very small. And by very small I mean nonexistent.” Chrissy laughed. “Although Rosita does give off some gay vibes.”

“Chrissy, you’re crazy. Rosita does not give off ‘gay vibes’.” Waverly laughed with air quotes. 

Waverly glanced at her phone and realized the time. “Shit, I better get going. I have to stop and get gas on the way home and I don’t want to miss curfew. I’m afraid punishment may be sex talk 2.0.” Waverly finished with a look of horror on her face.

“Okay Waves. I’ll see you at practice tomorrow.” 

“Bye Chris.” 

She headed down the stairs and gave a quick “Night Nedly!” to Chrissy’s dad as she went out the door. 

As Waverly stepped outside she instantly got butterflies at the sight of the redhead she had been cyberstalking all night. Standing in front of a car, occupied by something. Waverly wanted to go talk to her. Actually meet her. She felt like, in a way, that she already knew her and wanted to pick up a conversation that they had never started. Why was she so nervous? She was great with people. This was Waverly’s year to do what makes her happy. Right now, that was Nicole. Talk. Talk to Nicole. ‘It’s just a simple hello’ Waverly kept repeating in her head as she let her feet move her forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked the 2nd chapter! There is a lot more dialogue in this chapter which I wasn't exactly sure how to navigate. I hope I did an okay job and didn't break too many rules. Are there rules? I guess I will find out haha. I appreciate every single piece of feedback I received on my initial post. It really means a lot. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to read my work! Any and all feedback is welcome. 
> 
> I hope you all have a great weekend. 
> 
> \- E


	3. Chapter 3

Nicole winced as she stretched the arch of her foot back and forth. The excitement from earlier may have caused her to run a little too hard on her way home. She looked around her room at the mostly empty boxes trying to think of where she put her athletic tape. She looked through her desk drawers, dresser, and nightstand but couldn’t find any. Good thing she always kept some in her car. 

Nicole slipped on her slides and walked through the empty house towards the front door. It usually didn’t bother her to be home alone because she had so many friends, but it had been a little lonely since she moved. She was used to her parents being devoted to their work, it’s not like they didn’t love her or want to be around her, they were just passionate about what they did. 

As she stood on her porch, she scanned her new neighborhood, appreciating the trees that filled empty spaces. Nicole was happy that her parents went with this house, and not one of the newly developed ones on the outskirts of town that looked like every other house beside it. No trees in sight, just cookie cutter architecture and new grass. 

So far Nicole had really liked her neighborhood. The house across the street with unlit Christmas lights belonged to a cute old lady, Mrs. Smith. On more than one occasion Nicole helped the woman bring her trash bins around after they had fallen in the road. This resulted in a big hug as a thank you followed by the request of a few extra favors, but she didn’t mind. 

Nicole examined the house to her right and saw an upstairs light on in a window that she hadn’t noticed before. That must be Chrissy’s room. Her eyes fell on the sheriff’s car parked in the driveway. The constant reminder that Nicole would need to find a smoke spot other than her bedroom. It’s not like Nicole smoked a lot, but she liked it better than drinking. It was a good way for her to relax and connect with her surroundings. Nicole was so active in her life that she enjoyed getting high because it forced her to be still and take everything in and be present in the moment. 

She opened her car door and took a breath of the familiar black ice as she looked for her tape. It wasn’t in her usual spots, but she thought it could have rolled under the passenger seat. She crouched down and with her head to the side she blindly felt for the tape. She bit her lip as she stretched and wrapped her fingers around the familiar object. 

“How’s your face?”

Nicole jumped back at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, hitting her head on the way out as she fell back on the grass. She felt the blood leave her extremities and rush to her gut as she saw the beautiful girl from earlier.

“Oh my God are you okay?” the girl ran towards her. 

Nicole gathered her composure and smiled at the girl.

“You know, I don’t know you, but I’m really starting to think that you’re bad luck.” Nicole said as she rubbed the top of her head.

“I am so sorry! I was trying to be funny and say hi, but it turns out I’m not funny and now you’re hurt!” The girl said in a panic.

Nicole shook her head with a smile, “I’m fine.” 

She took the hand being offered to her and the other girl helped her to her feet. 

“Are you sure? I feel horrible.” 

“Please don’t, I’m okay.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Nicole hadn’t stopped smiling at the girl. She looked down at their hands still together and then back up at the girl. 

“uh-I’m Waverly” the girl said with a bright smile and an exaggerated shake of her hand “Chrissy’s friend.” She finished with a tilt of her head toward her friend’s house. 

“Waverly” Nicole smiled bigger. “I’m Nicole” she gave Waverly’s hand a firm comical shake back “Chrissy’s neighbor” and mimicked the girl’s head tilt.

After a few seconds of eye contact their hand movements stilled and Waverly pulled her hand back. Nicole watched as the girl began fiddling with her keys. 

“Well, I just wanted to introduce myself and make sure you were okay after… you know… running into that building earlier.” Waverly offered a small smile. 

Nicole felt her cheeks burn and squeezed her eyes shut. “Yeah, my face is okay but my ego…” she trailed off with a laugh. 

“If it makes you feel any better, I think I’m the only one that actually saw you hit the building.” she offered with a wince and a shrug.

Nicole thought for moment. “I think the whole cheerleading squad seeing the after math of the contact is just as bad.” She laughed “I was hoping I would come off as the cool interesting new kid and make friends fast, but I’m having my doubts.” She brought her palm to her forehead. 

“I’m sure you will still come off as cool and interesting.” 

“You think?” 

“Yeah, you definitely seem interesting.” 

“But you don’t know me.” Nicole said curiously.

The girl looked nervous.

“Uh- exactly.” 

“Good point.” Nicole chuckled. “I guess that makes me feel a little better.” She gave the girl a warm smile.

“So where are you from?”

“We – me and my parents – just moved here from Fresno.” 

“Mmm, were your parents sick of California and decided the perfect place to settle down was Purgatory?” 

“It was more of a throw the dart at the map and see where we end up type of situation.” 

The brunette rolled her eyes and laughed. “Right.”

“My dad got a job here.”

“Do you move a lot for his job?”

“No, thankfully. This is actually the first time we’ve moved. I grew up in Fresno. He works in seed technology and saw an opportunity for a really good job near here that he couldn’t turn down. It sucks it happened before my senior year, but it is what it is. I’m trying to make the best of it.” 

“This town may seem to be boring, but Purgatory High is more fun than you might think.” The girl said with a smile.

A beep brought the girl’s attention to her phone. “Oops. I have to go. Curfew.” She said with what seemed like disappointment in her voice. 

“Okay. Well, it was good to meet you.” 

“Yeah, you too.”

The brunette walked towards her car but quickly turned back around.

“Maybe we should hang out some time. With Chrissy… and some other people.. so you can make some friends before school starts.” The girl looked nervous again. “If you want.”

“I’d like that.” Nicole smiled. She walked towards Waverly as she fished into her pocket and handed her phone to the girl. “Put in your number?”

Nicole knew that this was merely a friendly exchange, but she still felt a rush from being so bold. She watched the girl type into her phone and hand it back with a smile. 

“Have a good night.” She said as she turned to walk away. “Sorry again, about your head.” She finished as she opened the door to her car. 

Nicole chuckled.

“It was nice to meet you Waverly.” 

Nicole watched as Waverly started the engine and drove away with some pop song playing loudly. She looked down at her new contact in her phone “Waverly :)”. She felt her cheeks get warm as she bit her lip and embraced the nerves in her stomach. She couldn’t help but think about how beautiful the girl was and how excited it made her feel that she wanted to talk to and hang out with her. 

She did a little dance as she walked back into her house and yelped as she grabbed at her foot. Remembering why she went outside in the first place; she went back to her car to get the tape. 

\----------------------

Waverly set her keys on the table inside the door.

“You’re late.”

Waverly’s eyes shot to her mother sitting on the couch with a book in her hands. 

“Sorry, I got caught up talking with Chrissy.”

“Come here.” Her mother patted the seat next to her.

“I’m really sorry about Champ honey.” She pulled Waverly in for a hug.

“Really mom, I’m okay.” She pulled back and gave her mother a reassuring smile. “I’m actually more than okay. I’m happier than when I was with him… I’m excited to see what this year brings and who I’ll meet.” 

Her mom smiled and squeezed her shoulder. 

“As long as you’re happy, Waves. That’s all the matters.” 

“Thanks mom.” She embraced her in another tight hug.

“That and being home before curfew. Make sure it doesn’t happen again.” 

“It won’t, I’m sorry. I’m going to go to bed.”

“Good night sweetheart.”

“Night.”

“And honey, you can talk to me any time. About Champ, or anything else going on in your life. I’m here if you need me.”

Waverly detected a little hurt in her mother’s voice and felt guilty for not telling her about breaking up with Champ. She normally told her mom about the big things in her life, but she couldn’t help but feel like she was letting everyone down for some reason when she broke up with Champ. It was like everyone was rooting for them to be high school sweethearts. Everyone but her. 

“I know. I love you.”

“I love you too. Go get some rest.”

Waverly walked past the kitchen and down the hall towards her bedroom. She lied down on her bed and looked at the ceiling fan as she thought about her night. She looked down at her phone for what seemed like the hundredth time over the past 15 minutes to check if her new friend had texted her. 

She was trying to make sense of everything she was feeling. She kept analyzing every aspect of her relationship with Champ and if she ever actually wanted to be with him. She liked that Champ wanted her, she liked the attention, and she knew he was a good-looking guy, but did she ever actually want him? She didn’t know. All she knew was that when she saw that picture on Nicole’s Instagram, she knew she wanted her. 

Which seemed absolutely crazy. First off, she really didn’t know this girl, and second it was a girl! Not that she was homophobic, but she had never thought about herself liking girls. She never had a crush on any of her friends, but maybe that’s because she grew up with them and they were like sisters to her. It all seemed so confusing. 

She tried thinking of any other evidence that could suggest she liked girls. She couldn’t think of anything. She was always so focused on cheer, her studies, and her relationship with Champ, it’s not like she had much time to explore what she was actually feeling. 

She stared at her calendar of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders that she bought as motivation to stay in shape. 

“Shit.” she whispered.

Her heart started to pound at the sound of a beep from her phone, but quickly calmed when she realized it was a text from Rosita, not the redhead consuming her thoughts. What was happening to her? 

With sweaty palms she pulled out her laptop to open an incognito window and searched: ‘am I attracted to girls?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know if you liked it or if you didn't and have some feedback!


	4. Chapter 4

Nicole let out a slow deep breath. Today was the day. She had trained for weeks and she felt ready, but her heart was pounding. It wasn’t her ability to play that had her worried, she knew she was a great kicker, it was how everyone else would react to her being there. 

She taped her foot and covered it with a sock and her slides. She was wearing an old purple and gold Titans football shirt from her old school with a pair of long black shorts and crew black socks. She put her cleats along with a water bottle, mouth guard, and a helmet in her bag and threw it in her car as she pulled up her ‘pump up’ playlist to get her in the right head space. 

After sitting through a few songs to build her confidence she started the engine and drove toward the high school. She pulled up to the event and her palms started to sweat as she took in the crowd outside the stadium and the number of cars in the parking lot. She was there 15 minutes early so she sat in her car for a little bit longer to gain her composure. After a mental pep talk, she stepped out of her car and started heading towards the field. 

The first thing she noticed when she walked in was the amount of people in the stands. She was caught off guard because the try outs at her old school only involved the players and the coaches, it wasn’t a town spectacle. She suddenly felt in over her head, but she needed to pull it together and prove she deserved to be there. She kept her head high and stood tall as she walked over to the sideline where the players were setting their bags. 

“Hey sweetheart, I think you missed cheerleading try outs a couple weeks ago, you’re in the wrong place.” 

Nicole looked over at the boy trying to talk to her. Objectively handsome with tattoos down his arm. He seemed like a tool as he gave her, what she assumed was, his flirty smile. 

“No, I’m in the right place.” She looked away in attempt to end the conversation as she sat down and shook off her slides while she dug around in her bag. 

“Oh, are you the new manager? Usually it’s Jeremy, but I would definitely not mind the new view.” He stepped closer with a wink.

“Champ, I know you’re still so heartbroken after the breakup.” A guy came up and put an arm around the other boy’s shoulders and turned to look at her. “It’s such a shame… he’s just not in a place to meet someone new. I’m Kyle.” He smiled smugly at her. 

“I’m not heartbroken. In fact, I would love to show you around school some time. You must be new I’ve never seen you before.” 

“Um, thanks but I think I can find my way around myself.” Nicole tried not coming off totally rude but wanted to make sure they knew she wasn’t interested. Another thing she wasn’t looking forward to not being out yet at her new school: Getting hit on by guys. 

“Jeremy, what are you doing here if we have new manager?”

“What?! I’ve been replaced? By who???” 

The two boys who were talking to Nicole looked at her as she was putting on her cleats.

“Not by me.” She tightened her laces and popped up to her feet. 

The boy who Nicole came to understand was Champ had a bunched up look on his face as he looked her up and down. 

“Wait... what? You’re not trying out for the football team.” 

Nicole was irritated at the boy for his statement and that it wasn’t a question. She became aware of the other guys starting to get quiet and look her way. 

“That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

It was no longer quiet among the guys on the field. They were gasping, yelling, and laughing, accompanied by the whispers in the stands. A group of men approached the field, Nicole recognizing Coach Earp at the front. Champ charged up to them, “You’re not letting a girl try out for the football team, are you?” Coach looked at him and looked in the direction he was pointing, making eye contact with Nicole. 

Coach cleared his throat as he approached her. “Boys. This is Nicole Haught. She’s a new student here and will be trying out for the team.” He raised his voice a level, “If you have a problem with that and are so worried about her beating you out of a position, I guess you can go home now.” It was dead quiet other than the sound of coach chewing his gum, and Nicole felt her cheeks get hot from all the attention being on her. 

“Everyone put your cleats on and take a knee at center field. You have one minute.”

Nicole was glad that they were moving on but could still feel eyes on her. She just needed to stay focused and ignore everyone else there. She hustled over to the meeting spot and took a knee. 

“Alright boys, it’s the best time of the year.” Everyone hollered and clapped in response. 

“I want to welcome everyone back, the freshman, and new students.” He looked across the span of players and his eyes briefly landed on Nicole.

“For those who don’t know, I’m Coach Earp, head coach and offensive coordinator. Juan Carlo is our defensive coordinator, and Doc here is our special teams coach.” 

He grabbed the shoulder of a man with a large mustache. 

“We also have Charlie who will be helping us out. He just graduated from Baylor where he played ball for 4 years. He will be an asset to our team this year.” 

“I know you have all worked hard to get here. That you have been busting your butts to become a Blue Devil. Now is your time to shine, and show us all of the work that you’ve put in. We’re going to start out with 5 laps around the field, some dynamic stretching, and then everyone will do the agility, strength, and speed assessment. After the initial assessment we will break off into offensive, defensive, and special teams position try outs. I want to remind all of you that nothing is given on this team, everything is earned.”

Nicole’s breathing began to pick up in anticipation.

“Alright boys, let’s go.” 

With the sound of a whistle everyone got to their feet and took off in a run around the field. Nicole felt herself begin to relax as she turned her mind off and let her body do the work. She was fast and had no problem keeping up with the boys. She rested her foot the past week so it wasn’t causing her any problems, especially with the support of the tape. 

She could tell the guys were trying to run faster to get away from her, but to their surprise she kept up without an issue. There were mumbles of disapproval from the boys around her and she could feel the burning stare of the family and friends of players in the stands. 

Once they were done with their warmup jog the coaches split them into random groups of 5 lines to begin their dynamic stretching down the field. As she turned in a side lunge facing the home stands, she dared to look at the crowd where she could feel the presence of eyes on her. She found the eyes of squinted faces and shaking heads before her eyes fell on the beautiful hazel ones she met the week before accompanied by a soft smile and wave. Nicole’s cheeks instantly pulled back in a smile with a flash of a few fingers the girl’s way as she turned to take a step and stretch the other side. 

“She was waving at me, not you.” An angry Champ said from behind her. 

Nicole was pretty sure the girl was waving at her; she was looking right at her. 

“Whatever you say buddy.” She just wanted to ignore him. This guy was clearly worried about his manhood because a girl was trying out for the team. 

Nicole felt a little more pressure knowing Waverly was there, but she used it as motivation to perform well and impress her. All week she had wanted to text her but didn’t know what to say. Normally when she liked a girl, she had no problem sending a flirty text, but this was different. She was in a weird position of crushing on a girl and wanting to hit on her, but knowing the girl was probably straight and said girl did not know she was gay and didn’t want to make it weird. Nicole felt like a middle schooler again with a burning crush that she was afraid to talk to. The amount of times she typed out a text but didn’t send it because she was embarrassed of sounding stupid was embarrassing in itself. Nicole tried distracting herself over the week with her training, but there wasn’t a day that passed where she didn’t hover over the new contact in her phone contemplating how to start a conversation. 

Once the stretching was done, they met at center field to get instructions from the coach.  
“No matter what position you play, agility, strength, and speed are crucial. Everyone will perform these drills. We will start with the shuttle run, then do broad jumps, and we will finish with the 40-yard dash. For the shuttle run you will get 3 chances. There is a bench mark I want you all to meet, if you meet that benchmark on your first try, you are done. I don’t want you to try and exceed this benchmark. I don’t want anyone getting inured today on our first exercise. Save your all-out sprints for the 40-yard dash. We’re going to split into 3 groups for the first 2 assessments to make this more efficient. Last names beginning with A-H are with me, I-P will go with Coach Carlo, and Q-Z will go with Doc. Any questions? ….. Okay let’s go.” 

Nicole realized she was in the same group as Champ and groaned quietly to herself. Although, she was a little excited to put him in his place and show him that she had worked hard and deserved to be there. 

“Okay boys” Coach said looking at his group, “and girl” he finished when his eyes landed on Nicole. 

“Let’s go.”

The coach didn’t provide much feedback, other than a good job here or there and whether or not they met the benchmark. Nicole was in the middle of the line, waiting for her turn as she watched some guys step to the side because they were done, and some get to the back of the line to try again. Once it was her turn, she crouched down in an athletic stance in anticipation of the whistle and was fast off of her line. When she was finished, she received a head nod from the coach. “Nice work. You hit the benchmark on your first try.” 

“Thanks coach.” 

Nicole bit back her smile. She didn’t want to come off as a giddy girl in front of the guys, but she was excited to know that she was doing well and hopefully impressing the coach. It was Champ’s turn after Nicole. “Try again, son.” The coach said. 

“Come on Champ, even the girl got it.” A guy next to her said as he was laughing. 

“I wasn’t even trying! I was holding back!”

“Levi take a lap!” The coach said sternly. 

The boy stopped laughing immediately and did as he was told. 

Once everyone was through with the shuttle run, they took a 5-minute break to get water. Nicole took a small drink and swished the water around her mouth to spit. The sun felt hot on her face as she took the bottom of her shirt to wipe her brow. There were a few whistles and hollers, “Maybe having a girl on the team wouldn’t be so bad.” She heard some pervy guy say. The last thing she wanted was to be objectified. 

Nicole turned to say something when someone else spoke up first, “Come on man, don’t be so gross.” 

Maybe not all the guys on the team would make things hard for her. The whistle brought everyone’s attention from the situation. “Get back into your groups, we are going to move onto broad jumps.”

Each athlete had 3 chances to jump, and their greatest distance would be recorded. Nicole performed well as she expected, as these exercises were part of her normal routine. 

“Alright I want everyone to come together. We’re going to do the 40-yard dash one person at a time. You will get 2 chances. We’re using electronic timers this year instead of hand timers to improve the accuracy. When you take off from the line the lasers will be triggered and begin timing you. Line up! Show me what you’ve got!” 

Nicole headed to get in line with about 20 guys ahead of her. Most of their times averaged 4.9-5.3 seconds with some guys getting a little faster. The guy who defended her earlier against that perv ran a 4.45 which earned a ‘hell yeah!’ from the coach and a lot of ‘atta boy, Dolls’ from the other guys.

Nicole was on deck and she started hopping on her toes to stay agile and battle her nerves. Once the guy ahead of her took off and crossed the 40 she started to jog forward. She stepped up to the goal line and settled into her three-point stance with her feet staggered and hands sideways on the ground. She dropped her chin to her chest and anticipated her start. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath in through her nose and as she began exhaling out her mouth, she exploded out onto the field putting everything she had into that sprint with her eyes now open and forward as she pushed past that 40-yard line. 

“4.78…” Coach Earp finished with a whistle. “You sure you just want to be a kicker?” 

Nicole gave him a smile and a shrug as she kept moving forward towards the other guys as she tried to catch her breath. 

“Damn, dude you’re fast!” The guy she realized was named Dolls approached her with a hand in the air. 

Nicole wasn’t sure at first, but she smacked his hand. “Thanks.” She puffed out. 

“You’re not coming for my position, are you?” He said half joking. 

Nicole laughed as she was still catching her breath. “Nah, Just the kicker.”

“Well, it’s good to know that we have some speed to defend on the returns. I’m Dolls, hopefully a running back for this season.” This time he extended his hand towards her. 

“Nicole, and I’m sure you’ll have no problem securing your position, you’re really fast.” 

“You can stop flirting with him, he has a girlfriend.” Champ rudely interrupted. 

“I was not flirting with him; I was complimenting his speed. Sorry I haven’t noticed anything from you that deserved a compliment. Good job on your 5.6 I guess?” Nicole wanted to make friends, not enemies on the team, but she couldn’t help herself. This guy was such a dick. 

The guys around them started laughing at Champ’s expense. Dolls let out a big ‘OH’ and went for another hi five with Nicole which she gladly returned. 

“Whatever, bitch.” 

“What did you just say?” Nicole turned sharply towards him and took a step. Dolls stepped between them, “Hey Champ, chill out. Learn to take a joke.” 

“You shouldn’t even be talking to her; Wynonna is going to be pissed.”

“She’s not my keeper.” Dolls and Nicole walked back towards the endzone to get back in line for their second try for the 40-yard dash. Nicole followed his eyes towards the stands where they fell on a girl with dark wavy long hair and a glare on her face. “Oops. She’s going to kill me.”

“For what?” Nicole was confused. “You can’t talk to anyone that’s a girl?”

“No, I can, she just gets weird around new girls in town.”

Nicole put a hand on his shoulder, “Don’t worry bud, you’re not my type.” 

“What you don’t like black guys?” 

Nicole’s eyes got wide, “Oh my god, totally not what I meant.” 

“Ah, you don’t date football players?” 

“I don’t date dudes.” Nicole just wanted to rip it off like a band aid and act like it wasn’t a big deal. Dolls seemed like a decent guy, and although she didn’t really know him yet, sometimes that’s the easiest time to come out to someone. Dolls stared at her in confusion for a moment as they settled in line. 

“So… you… like...”

“Girls.”

Dolls smiled. “Okay, that’s pretty cool.” 

Nicole let go of a breath she was holding, “I guess so.” She laughed. “It’s just me.” She finished with a shrug.

“Okay so fuck, marry, kill…” Dolls went through several of those hypothetical situations with hot celebrities, clearly excited to talk about girls with a girl. 

Nicole ran her second 40-yard dash with a similarly speedy time and was pleased with herself. She struck up conversation with Dolls again until the rest of the guys were finished. 

“Okay everybody, great job so far. We’re going to take a 5-minute water break and then move into position try outs. We’ll be splitting into offense, defense, and special teams. I understand some of you are trying out for multiple positions, we will make it work. Offense you will meet with me at the South field goal, defense will meet with Coach Carlo at center field, and special teams will meet with Doc at the North field goal.” 

As Nicole jogged over to her water bottle, she glanced at the stands to see if Waverly was still there, which she was, looking right at her and quickly moved her gaze once they made eye contact. Nicole kept staring to see if she looked back and she noticed the girl next to Waverly giving her an evil eye, Dolls’ girlfriend. She averted her eyes and looked at the ground to avoid eye contact with any other person who may be upset with her being there. She had inadvertently made several enemies today including Champ, Dolls’ girlfriend, and random townsfolk as well as her fellow football players who were against people breaking the normal gender roles. 

She let her head fall back as she took in half of her water bottle, knowing most of her running was over with and she didn’t have to worry about a side cramp. Now she just had to focus on kicking. Her favorite part. 

Once her thirst was quenched, she jogged over to the North field goal where the mustached Doc was standing, soon joined by a handful of other guys. Once Doc started working with the kickers, Nicole shined. She was obviously much better than any of the other guys trying out for the kicker position. Doc didn’t say much, but his eyes were on her most of the time. When the try out concluded and all the players joined together again, she felt confident in her performance. She wasn’t 100% sure she would get the position, especially knowing that the majority of the guys on the team were not happy with her being there, but she knew she gave it her all. 

“I’m very impressed with all of you and the effort you put into training for this season. I know you’re all anxious to find out if you’ve made the team. All of the coaches will meet after try outs today and begin going over positions. We will post updates on the sports page of the school website starting tonight with positions we are sure on and continue throughout the next couple of days. We anticipate having all of the final results by Wednesday night. All the players that made both the varsity and junior varsity teams will be invited to the team bonding dinner on Friday night, and team practice will begin on Monday after the first day of school. I am looking forward to this season, I’ve got a good feeling about it. Go home and get some rest. I will see most of you on Friday night. Dolls, do you want to break the huddle?”

“Alright everybody bring it in. Devils on three. One, two, three”

“DEVILS” everyone said in unison. 

Nicole walked over to her bag and started changing out of her cleats and back into her slides. 

“Hey Haught, see you on Friday night?” Dolls asked while walking by.

“I hope so. I guess we’ll see.” 

The field started to clear out as Nicole gathered her stuff and headed for the parking lot. Tired of being looked upon by all the eyes in the stands she kept her eyes down as she headed towards her car.

“Hey, Nicole! You did a really good job out there.”

Nicole turned to see Waverly smiling at her and she felt warm all over. “Hey, thank you.”

“You definitely don’t have to worry about people not thinking you’re interesting. Everyone in the stands couldn’t stop talking about you.”

“Eh, good things or bad things?” 

“Not bad, just confused and interested… and impressed!”

“It could be worse.” Nicole smiled at the girl. 

Nicole’s smile dropped and she swallowed hard as she saw Dolls’ girlfriend approach her. 

“I saw the way you were looking at Dolls and I think you better keep to yourself from now on. All I’m saying is it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve thrown a punch.”

“Wynonna! What are you talking about? Nicole, please ignore my sister, she is crazy.” 

“What? How do you know her?” 

“I met her last week when I left Chrissy’s.” She mentioned casually.

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“It didn’t seem like something I needed to tell you?”

Dolls approached the group and put his arms around Wynonna. 

“Oh, don’t try to be so slick. I know what’s going on here. Your eyes glued to this red headed hottie and her doe eyes.”

“Thank you?” Nicole chimed in.

“Babe, you’ve got it all wrong.” He leaned over and whispered something in her ear. 

“Okay, I’m an idiot.” 

“What?” Waverly looked confused. 

“She’s not interested in Dolls, she’s a carpet muncher.”

“Wowwww... Okay. That’s offensive. Is that what you said to her?” 

Dolls put his hands up, “All I said was that she didn’t have to worry because you liked girls!”

“What? That’s not a bad thing!” Wynonna walked towards Nicole and put her arm around her shoulder, “You know, I’ve thought about it before myself… but I don’t think I could commit.” She leaned further into Nicole and audibly sniffed, “You smell really good, like a man but without the stink they get after working out.” 

Nicole tried to pry herself out from underneath the other girl, “Okay this has definitely been the weirdest coming out experience I have ever had. Is she always like this?” Directing her question toward a blushing Waverly.

“Unfortunately. I’m so sorry.”

“Now that I know you’re not trying to jump my boyfriend’s bones, I don’t have anything to worry about. Well, stay away from my sister!” She started laughing hard. 

Nicole tried to stop her cheeks from turning red and she avoided eye contact with Waverly.

“Noted.” She tried to come off like the conversation wasn’t making her uncomfortable. 

“I’m Wynonna, by the way. And you’re Nicole..?”

“Yeah, Nicole Haught.” 

“Haught?”

“Yep, it’s real.” Nicole replied with a chuckle. 

“This just keeps getting better.” Wynonna said with a wide smile. 

“Yay, me.” Nicole brought a forced smile to her face. 

“Don’t worry about your little secret, we won’t tell anyone.” Wynonna said with a wink.

“Ugh, please, it’s not a secret. I’ve been out for a while, so if it just spread around without me having to tell people honestly it would be better.” 

“Whatever you say Haughtstuff. Come on Waves, Dolls is going to take us home since dad is going to be here for a while.” 

As the group said their goodbyes and turned to walk away Waverly mouthed a ‘sorry’ as she pointed towards Wynonna bringing a smile to Nicole’s face. 

\--------

After downing a large glass of water along with a banana and a protein bar and standing in the air conditioning for a while, the shower was calling Nicole’s name. The water felt good as it washed away all the grime and hard work from earlier. She took advantage of her warm muscles in the shower to stretch and rub them. She was no stranger to injuries and tried to do everything she could to prevent them. 

Once she was clean she dried herself, put on fresh clothes and wrapped her hair in the towel as she relaxed back onto her bed. It had only been a few hours since the try out so she didn’t anticipate seeing any results posted but she thought she would try and find the webpage now so she could look later. She Googled ‘Purgatory, Texas High School’ and quickly found the website and navigated to the football page. She was surprised to see a few results in. The ones that didn’t require much negotiation between coaches, the players that beat out all the other competition without a problem. She scrolled down the results and saw ‘Varsity Running Back: Xavier Dolls, Senior’. Although she barely knew him, she was happy for her new friend. She rolled her eyes when she saw the next posting ‘Varsity Quarter Back: Champ Hardy, Senior’. Those were the only names she recognized until she reached the bottom of the page: ‘Varsity Kicking Specialist (Kicker, Kickoff Specialist, Punter): Nicole Haught, Senior’. 

Nicole jumped to her feet and shot her arms up in the air throwing her phone across the room, “No way!” she said as she was jumping and dancing around her room.

Once she settled down, she found her phone again and finally had the courage to type out a text to the girl she had been wanting to reach out to.

“Okay, so maybe you aren’t bad luck ;)” Nicole bit her lip and hovered over send for a moment before committing and sending the message to Waverly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate all of the kudos and especially the comments! I love the feedback and hearing what you guys think. I hope you liked this chapter. :)


	5. Chapter 5

After extensive research including 5 different online quizzes and listening to several lesbian vloggers talk about their experiences, Waverly was pretty sure she wasn’t straight. She was, at least, a 2 or 3 on the Kinsey scale, and the more she thought about it maybe a 4. She would go back and forth about her feelings. It was so confusing because she had very limited data on liking girls other than her illogically strong attraction to someone, a girl, she just met and then the fact that she was never very sexually attracted to Champ. But maybe that’s because he lacked the understanding of foreplay and was a bad kisser, not because she wasn’t attracted to boys. Not that she was particularly interested in any other guys in school. 

While watching coming out stories on YouTube she came across videos of lesbian ships from movies and TV shows. This sent her down the rabbit hole that consumed nearly 4 days. She came across an article titled ’95 Queer and Lesbian TV Shows to Stream on Netflix’ and settled into bed with her laptop as she began consuming as much LGBTQ content as she could. Even though she had her own ‘Waverly’ profile, she made sure to delete her history every time she watched something new. Throughout the next couple days, she made it through all of Orange is the New Black and Wentworth, up until her favorite character died and she couldn’t continue to watch it knowing the character’s lover was left behind. She cried. A lot. She became invested in these lesbian relationships in TV shows like she never had before with straight relationships. 

Once she was over the heartbreak of Wentworth, she started a new show and made it through the first episode when Wynonna busted in her room. “Are you alive? I’ve barely seen you the past couple days you’ve been holed up in here.”

“Ummm.. I’ve just had bad.. cramps...” Waverly shrugged. She didn’t know what else to say. She desperately wanted to talk to Wynonna about her newfound feelings, they talked about everything together, but she wasn’t sure how she would react. She seemed okay when she found out Nicole was gay the other day, but it’s different when it’s your sister. 

“Oh, shit. That sucks. What are you watching? We could eat junk food and watch something together.” 

“Well I just started a new show..” After seeing the first episode the show didn’t seem obviously gay, so maybe she could get Wynonna to watch it and then once the gay stuff came up it would give her an opportunity to see how she felt about it. “But I can start it over with you!”

“What is it?”

“Okay hear me out, it’s a modern-day western dramedy with demon hunting, a curse, magical gun, and other paranormal activity.” Waverly described with a lot of hand gestures. 

Wynonna gave her a weird look. “Sounds bizarre. I’m in! I’ll go get the snacks.”  
Once she returned with their treats, they sat against Waverly’s headboard with the laptop in between them and started the show. Wynonna seemed interested after the first episode, so they continued. Waverly’s palms began to sweat when a scene started that she recognized from seeing it on YouTube – when the couple she had been anticipating meets. She tried side eyeing her sister to get her reaction without making it obvious that she was looking at her, but her face wasn’t giving anything away.

“Was there some sexual chemistry there or was it just me?” Wynonna seemed curious but not upset. 

Waverly played dumb. “Umm maybe? I think the cop was definitely flirting with her.”

“Oooooooooooo I don’t think she’s talking about her shirt being soaked.” she wiggled her eyebrows. 

By the end of the episode, they were both hooked, only taking breaks for the bathroom and dinner with their parents. 

“I’m so glad you suggested this show. I love the main character, she’s such a witty badass. Kind of like me!” 

Waverly laughed and agreed. She definitely reminded her of Wynonna. It was getting late and she was starting to get tired, but they decided to watch the ninth episode before they headed for bed. She was glad they did for several reasons. One of the lines really resonated with her: ‘You’ve been doing what others want you to do for so long, now you can do whatever it is you want’. This was how she had been feeling. She had been thinking the only reason she was with Champ was because it was what other people wanted, and now she was ready to do what she wanted. ‘Some of the best things in life are the surprises it throws us. About what we want. Who we want.’ Waverly felt a swell in her chest and if anything in life was a sign, this was it. 

When the girls in the show kissed near the end of the episode Wynonna let out a holler, “Finally! I was waiting for them get together.” 

Waverly felt a rush of relief knowing that Wynonna not only tolerated the same sex couple in the show, but supported them. A mix of emotions brought warmth to her cheeks with hot tears streaming down them. She made no noise and continued watching with blurred vision. 

“Baby girl, what’s wrong?” She felt Wynonna wiping away her tears and pulling her into a hug. “Damn periods.” She added to the sound of Waverly now openly crying. 

Waverly pulled back sniffling and wiping her eyes, “No, that’s not it.” 

“What’s wrong?” Wynonna looked concerned. 

Waverly looked to the ceiling to avoid eye contact and gather her thoughts. As she brought her head down to look into her sister’s eyes, she let out a slow breath. 

“I just don’t want you to think of me differently or not love me as much.” She began crying again. She felt sick to her stomach knowing that there was no going back, and that whatever happened things would change. 

Wynonna looked at her sister with caring eyes, “Waverly, I will always love you. You’re my sister and nothing you could do will change that and how much I love you. What’s going on?” 

“I…” Waverly struggled to find the right words to say. “I’m like..” pointing towards the computer. Another tear fell down her face. 

“I think I like girls.” 

Wynonna’s face went from one of confusion to one of love and she pulled her sister in for another hug. 

“I love you, baby girl.” She continued to hold her sister, “Nothing will change that. I support you.” 

Waverly cried in her sister’s arms from relief, from love, from her revelation to not only her sister but to herself. 

“I’ve wanted to talk to you about it so bad, but I just didn’t know how you would react.” 

“I will always accept you Waves, no matter what.” She squeezed her tighter. “How long have you known?” 

“Almost 2 weeks. It just came out of nowhere and it’s so hard to explain. When I saw Nicole for the first time, she was just so alluring. I felt something I had never felt before.”

“Nicole?....” Wynonna put her head into her hands. “Waves, I am so stupid. I was joking about with her the other day, I was trying to be funny, you know I’m not good at meeting new people like you are. I probably made you feel so uncomfortable and sounded like a homophobic asshole.” 

“I know you didn’t mean it like that, it’s okay. I know now that you’re accepting.” 

“One hundred percent!” 

“Thank you, Wy. I can’t tell you how hard it’s been going through this by myself and not talking to you about it.” 

“Okay, tell me everything. Start from the beginning!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short! I thought about combining it with what I am writing next, but I felt like posting it early instead! Also, I realize that we are on chapter 5 and there hasn't been much interaction between Waverly and Nicole but we are getting there. Let me know if it's going too slow! Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Nicole couldn’t stop overthinking the text she sent to Waverly. She was kicking herself for the winky face; it was probably too much. Waiting 20 minutes for a text back from a girl felt like torture and the 4 days of radio silence since her text to Waverly made her feel nothing short of insane. Maybe when she found out Nicole liked girls she was freaked out and wanted nothing to do with her. This thought process Inevitably led her to picture a mob of angry townsfolk bearing pitchforks and torches knocking down her door for even looking Waverly’s way. Then Nicole would remind herself that Waverly seemed okay with her sexuality from the small interaction and her sister seemed cool with it too in her own weird way. It was a constant cycle of illogical scenarios in attempt to understand why she didn’t hear back from the girl who had been consuming her thoughts. 

She tried to distract herself and focus on the excitement of making the football team as she finished getting ready for the team bonding dinner. The email she received Wednesday night contained the official roster as well as what to expect and what is expected this season. The dinner was informal and at Coach Earp’s house or ‘The Homestead’, as the email referred to it, on the edge of town. She decided to wear something simple: a black short sleeve V-neck shirt, matching black Calvin Klein sports bra and boxers, dark skinny jeans that were cuffed, high-top black Vans, and her silver chain and watch to accessorize. Even though she didn’t dress super feminine, she still put a lot of effort into her outfits and how she looked. She finished putting her hair half up, sprayed on some of her favorite cologne, and headed out. 

She expected the house to bigger in order to host that many people, but there was plenty of space outside with picnic tables for all the players. The house wasn’t small by any means, but modest. Everyone was funneling in through the front door and greeted by Coach Earp and a woman she presumed to be his wife. She had long brown hair with little waves and an illuminating smile. She was beautiful and somehow reminded Nicole of someone. 

“Nicole, congratulations on making the team.” 

He extended his hand which Nicole confidently shook. 

“Thanks Coach.”

“This is my wife, Michelle.”

“I’ve heard all about Purgatory High’s first female football player, it’s so good to meet you!” 

Her southern accent was charming. Nicole brought her hand out to properly introduce herself. 

“It’s nice to meet—”

Michelle waved her hand away and pulled her into a hug. 

“you.” Nicole finished with wide eyes. 

“We’re huggers here and now that you’re part of the team, you’re part of the family too.”

Michelle pulled back and smiled wide at her. 

Nicole didn’t really know how to react and gave an awkward thank you in return. She didn’t mind the hug at all, it was comforting really, but she wasn’t used to that kind of interaction.

“Okay, Michelle, let the girl keep moving.” Coach gave her a pat on the back. “Grab a drink from one of the coolers in the kitchen and head out the sliding door to the backyard. We’ll be serving some barbecue once we get started but go ahead and meet some of your new teammates.” 

“Thanks, Coach.” She nodded her head. “It was good to meet you, Mrs. Earp.”

“Just call me Michelle, honey.” 

Nicole gave a small smile and moved towards the kitchen so the guys coming in behind her could fit in the doorway. She was looking over her drink choices when her stomach dropped at the sound of a now familiar voice behind her.

“Don’t make any sudden movements…. I’m trying to let you know that I’m behind you. Don’t be startled and hurt yourself.” 

She turned to look at the beautiful girl sporting a bright smile in a white tank top and blue high waisted shorts. 

“I appreciate the warning this time.” She returned the girls smile. 

“I do what I can. Congratulations on making the team; you were really great at the try out.” 

“Thank you, I—” 

“And I’m sorry about my sister the other day. I know she feels really bad about it, and definitely did not mean to come off… the way she probably did.” 

“No, it’s not a –”

“And that’s probably why you didn’t text me to have that get together we talked about, which I totally understand. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable, but I wanted you to know that me and my sister and Dolls are totally okay with you being, you know, and would still want to hang out some time if you—”

Nicole put her hand on the girl’s shoulder in an attempt to stop her rambling. “Waverly, I did text you. Did you not get it?” 

Waverly swiftly reached into her back pocket and inspected her phone. “No, I never got a text from you.” 

Nicole scrunched her eyebrows and pulled out her own phone, looking confused on the outside, but feeling elated on the inside knowing that Waverly didn’t ignore her text. She directed her phone with the text thread towards the other girl.

“This is you right?” 

“My number ends in 0, not 9… My finger must have slipped when I put my number in your phone. I’m so sorry!” 

Nicole typed in her phone and showed her the screen again. “No worries, this is right?” 

“Yep, that’s me!” The girl grinned widely as she looked at the screen. “And obviously I’m not bad luck, I’m a cheerleader after all. I’m supposed to bring good luck.” 

“I don’t know… I’ll need more evidence.” Nicole teased. 

“We’ll just have to see at the first game.” 

They smiled at each other and Nicole looked around. 

“I didn’t know the cheerleaders met with the football team for team bonding.”

“They don’t. I live here, silly.” 

Nicole gave her a puzzled look. 

“My dad is the coach, Coach Earp.” She said obviously. 

“Oh.” Nicole formed an O with her mouth. For some reason knowing her crush was her coach’s daughter made it a little more dangerous. “That’s cool.” 

“I guess so.” Waverly shrugged. “Well, Wynonna and I typically hide out in our rooms during these events, so I better get back to it, but do you want to hang out afterwards? A small group of us are going to have a fire.” She looked around to make sure no one was listening “and have a few beers.” 

“I’d love to.” Nicole felt the bubble and rush in her gut at the thought of Waverly wanting to spend time with her. 

“Okay, good! Before you go outside send me a text, so I have your number.”

Nicole typed out a text and waited to hear a ding from Waverly’s phone. 

“I’ll see you after the dinner.” Nicole smiled at the brunette and headed outside. There was a large grill on the patio, manned by Coach Carlo and Doc, and what looked like 10 picnic tables between the house and the barn at the back of the property. Maybe half of the guys were there already, and the nerves started to sink in again. She scanned the tables in hopes of finding an inviting face but was mostly met with looks of disapproval. 

“Great.” She muttered softly under her breath. The whispers and stares were going to make for an uncomfortably long season.

“Haught, come sit with us.” Dolls appeared from behind her and gave her an elbow to the side. 

“Hey!” Nicole was relieved to see a familiar face to save her from awkwardly standing there any longer. She followed him to a table with some guys she recognized from the try-out but hadn’t met yet. 

“Haught these are the boys. Perry, our tight end, Robin, wide receiver, Bobo, corner back, and Holt, he’s left guard. You guys know Nicole – our new kicker.”

Nicole gave a head nod and a ‘sup’ to the guys at the table as she took a seat next to Dolls. They weren’t overly friendly, but they didn’t seem displeased that she was sitting with them. They began making easy conversation about football, the impending start of the new school year, and some video game she hadn’t played. Things started going really well until her new least favorite person showed up.

“So, you guys replaced me with the butch lesbo?” Champ interrupted the conversation at the table causing everyone to look at him. 

“Champ what is your deal, dude?” Dolls reprimanded him. 

“My deal? What’s your deal? How are you guys so cool with some chick being on the team? And she’s gay which is disgusting.”

Any doubt that her sexuality had been spread around town was now gone. It was a relief to know that part was done, but now she was worried about the homophobia that would apparently result. 

“She’s a great player, so we don’t care if she’s a girl. At least I don’t.” Dolls looked around and was met with nods from the other guys. 

“There’s nothing wrong with being gay.” Robin cut in. 

“I understand that your manhood is feeling under attack by me being here, but don’t worry. I didn’t steal your position and I’m not a scary lesbian out to turn all the girls of Purgatory high gay and steal your girlfriends.” Nicole appreciated the guys speaking up for her, but she needed to deal with this herself. “I’m just here to play some football and make it through my senior year.” 

“It just doesn’t seem right.”

“Champ, I’ve seen the search history on your computer. I never would have guessed you have a problem with lesbians.” Bobo poked fun at the boy and everyone busted out in laughter. 

Champ gave him the finger. “I’m going to get a drink.” Nicole watched him walk in the house with a shake of her head. 

“Sorry he’s such a dick. I don’t want to defend him but he’s normally not like this. His girlfriend broke up with him recently and he’s had a stick in his ass ever since. That doesn’t excuse what he said though.” She could tell that Dolls felt bad about his supposed friend’s behavior. 

“I think he just needs some time to adjust and cool off. Clearly I’m something he has never dealt with before as well as nearly everyone else in this town.”

“He’ll come around. We’ll make sure of it.” Dolls gave her a friendly smile. She was surprised that she had met such a kind and accepting person on the football team but mostly she was grateful. She saw Champ walk outside and sit at the opposite end of the picnic table from her. Hopefully they could just ignore each other until he finally got his head out of his ass. 

A loud whistle brought everyone’s attention towards the back of the house where their coach stood with his wife. 

“Welcome everyone. I wanted to start off by saying congratulations on becoming a Blue Devil; your hard work has paid off. Give yourself a round of applause.” 

The large group erupted in loud clapping interspersed with hoots and hollers. 

“We’ll eat first and then go over some important information for this season. Make sure you thank the other coaches, their wives, and my beautiful wife for preparing all of this food for you tonight. Let’s eat!” 

Once she grabbed her food, she settled into easy conversation with the guys at her table again. They asked her questions about her old football team and what living in California was like which inevitably led to the question if she surfed which she had to explain that just because someone lives in California does not mean they surf, or even live by the ocean. She felt really good about how things were going and relieved that she was beginning to make friends. 

“Haught we’re going to drive out and have a fire tonight, are you in?”

“Yeah, Waverly actually invited me.” 

“Nice! Your official initiation into the group.” Dolls went for a high five. 

“Should I be worried?” Nicole smacked his hand in return. 

Dolls laughed, “It depends. How high is your tolerance?” 

Nicole laughed uneasily knowing her tolerance was low because she preferred being ‘couch locked’ over slinging back beer bongs. 

As the players finished their food, they began playing yard games like corn hole, which Nicole found out she was pretty good at, latter toss, and horseshoes and continued to socialize until the sun started going down. A projector was brought outside and set up to use the side of the barn as a screen. Once everything was set up Coach Earp called everyone to gather near the barn and watch a Blue Devils Football Program inspirational video and a presentation on the upcoming season. 

Nicole felt her phone buzz in her pocket and discretely pulled it out to see a text from an unknown number but instantly smiled when she realized it was from Waverly. ‘Want to ride with me, Wy and Dolls to the spot?’. 

“You better get off your phone unless you want to start our first practice running laps.” Dolls whispered towards her. 

Nicole quickly typed a response and slid her phone back in her pocket, directing her attention back towards their coach.

“There are 10 scheduled games to be played this season with a potential 11th if we make it to the championship game which I fully intend to do.” Everyone cheered. “The championship game will be played at the AT&T stadium which will involve an overnight stay, but we’ll go over that more in detail when the time comes.”

He then clicked onto the neck slide titled ‘Academics’. 

“I want to set you up for success not only for this football season, but for your futures as players, and your futures as professionals. Your academics are the foundation for your success which is why I require you to maintain a 2.3 GPA, or a C+ average. 2.3 is the minimum GPA set by the NCAA required to play D1 ball, or any other collegiate sport. I would hate for you to get offers from great colleges, and not be able to play because your grades don’t meet expectations. I, as well as the other coaches, will receive weekly progress reports from your teachers letting us know if you’re falling behind or getting close to falling below the C+ mark. If you struggle with your grades, I suggest getting a tutor your first week of school. It’s easier to keep up than to catch up. All of your coaches are resources as well, so don’t be afraid to reach out.” 

Coach Earp handed off the presentation to Doc to go over practice schedules and what to expect on game day. Once the meeting was over, they went back to socializing and the group of players slowly began to dwindle until it was just Nicole and ‘the boys’, as Dolls referred to them. 

“Hey losers.” Wynonna came out in a black leather jacket and tight skinny jeans.

“Where’s Waverly?” Champ asked right away. 

“She’s looking in the mirror for the hundredth time to make sure her hair and makeup are just right.” She said with an eye roll. 

“She wants to look good for me, huh?” 

Nicole hated his smug smile.

“Right, she broke up with you just so she could win you back.” 

Nicole’s stomach twisted at the thought of Waverly being with such an asshole. She didn’t know her all that well yet, but she seemed like such a sweet girl and she knew for a fact that Champ was a dick. 

“Yeah, probably.”

“No, numb nuts. It’s called sarcasm. She obviously doesn’t want you back.” 

“Wynonna, you don’t know anything.”

“Right, I’m just her sister who she tells everything to.” 

Nicole caught Waverly’s eyes as she stepped outside in the same top from earlier, but she was now wearing jeans and sneakers. She looked so cute. They smiled at each other, but the brunette’s eyes were torn from hers by the raised voices. 

“Are you guys arguing already?” Waverly said with a huff. 

“I’m just helping good ol’ Champ make it through his delusional state.”

“Whatever, Waverly let’s go. You can ride with me.” Champ gestured towards the parked cars.

“Oh, actually Champ I’m going to go with Wynonna.” She said pointing towards her sister but eyes flickering to Nicole. 

“I don’t know what alternate universe I’m living in right now. You guys suck, I’m going home.” Champ stormed off towards his car and Wynonna cheered.

“Wynonna, you don’t need to make him feel worse about things.” Waverly pleaded.

“He would have been a buzz kill. Let’s go!”

Nicole found it sweet that the girl cared about Champ’s feelings, even though she was the one that ended things. 

“I just talked to Chrissy and she’s driving Mercedes, Rosita, and Beth out to the spot.”

“Alright, Haught you’re coming with us.” Wynonna gave Nicole a wink and looked at Waverly before turning to walk towards the cars. 

She grabbed a sweatshirt from her trunk and pushed down her nerves before joining Waverly in the back seat of the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I was writing this chapter it was getting really long so I decided to cut it in half so it wasn't one super long chapter. So I should get the next chapter out pretty soon! I hope you enjoy it!


	7. Chapter 7

Nicole sat next to Waverly in the back of the car with sweaty palms and a dry mouth as she pretended to listen to the country music playing. It was awkward at first, because apparently she forgot to unpack the box labeled ‘how to talk to pretty girls’ since the move. Thankfully after about 5 minutes of silence Wynonna broke the tension from the driver’s seat with talk about who she thought would get the drunkest that night. After a few minutes Wynonna started arguing with Dolls about something returning the pressure of a one-on-one conversation with Waverly. 

“So, do you guys have fires like this a lot?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of our go to. There isn’t a whole lot to do for fun, so we just drive out onto an old dirt road and hang out, listen to music, and drink. I usually hold on to my same beer all night so I don’t get too crazy.” The brunette blushed. “Last year I drank too much and let’s just say my friends wouldn’t let me live it down for a long time.” 

“Don’t feel bad. I’ve definitely been there. There’s something about being a walking blackout that is a little unnerving.” She gave her a smile with raised eyebrows. “That’s why I don’t drink very much.” 

“What happened?”

“Mmm, I don’t know if I should tell you.”

“Oh, come on, now you have to.”

“I woke up with peanut butter in one sock and jelly in the other… on my feet, my underwear on the outside of my pants, and a post on my Instagram captioned ‘OMG Taylor Swift’ with a picture of me posing with someone that was definitely not Taylor Swift… and that’s all I’m going to say.” 

Waverly’s dropped jaw turned into an adorable fit of laughter. 

“I’m glad you find my unfortune hysterical.” Nicole tried fighting off a smile and playfully poked her side.

“I’m sorry, but that’s hilarious!” 

“Hopefully it makes you feel better about whatever you did last year.” 

“It was mostly just me puking a lot.” She waved her off.

“So, I told you my embarrassing story for no reason?” 

“And I’m so glad you did.” Waverly laughed at her. 

“Yeah, that’s why I like to smoke instead. Even if I’m really high, I don’t feel out of control of what I’m doing, and I always remember everything.”

“You smoke marijuana?”

“Marijuana?” Nicole laughed. “Yeah, I like to smoke weed.” 

“I’ve never done it before.”

“It’s different for everyone, but I like it a lot more than drinking. We should smoke together some time.” 

“Okay.” Waverly gave her a small smile and looked down at her hands. 

Nicole felt nervous again as she watched the beautiful girl in front of her as she met her eyes with a smile.

“So… you’re a Swifty, huh?”

She briefly looked away and scratched the back of her neck. 

“My guilty pleasure. I can’t help it; her music is so good! Don’t judge me for being a sap who likes love songs.” 

“No no no! I love her too.” 

Nicole was relieved that Waverly didn’t think it was lame that she listened to Taylor Swift like her old friends did. 

“Her music isn’t pop garbage like a lot of people assume. Her lyrics are poetic, ‘and you call me up again just to break me like a promise –“ 

“So casually cruel in the name of being honest.” Waverly finished the line from her favorite song.

“Yes, you get it!” Nicole said with excitement. She felt something between them as they stared into each other’s eyes, broken too soon by the sudden stop of the car.

“Okay, losers. We’re here.” Wynonna further interrupted the moment. 

Waverly gave her another small smile before turning to open her door. Nicole wiped her palms on her pants and followed close behind. As soon as they stepped out of the car Chrissy yelled for Waverly and motioned her towards the two trucks where some girls she didn’t recognize were sitting on the tailgates. Bobo and Perry were starting the fire nearby. 

“Anything I can help with?” 

“Want to grab the coolers from the backseat of my truck? It’s the black one.” Bobo pointed towards one of the trucks. She offered the girls a friendly smile and noticed a lingering stare from a dark-haired girl when she was reaching for the cooler, but she didn’t think too much into it. She peaked in the cooler and sighed at the Bud Light she had been dreading. 

Once she brought over both of the coolers Wynonna started digging through them handing out beers to everyone. 

“We’re kicking the night off with a shotgun! Everyone has to do it no exceptions.” 

Nicole gulped as she was handed a beer. Wynonna pulled out a knife and quickly stabbed into her can as well as Dolls’ who was next to her and continued to do the same for the others.

“Your girlfriend terrifies me.” Nicole said truthfully as she looked at Dolls. 

“Does everyone have one?” Wynonna scanned everyone for a beer. 

“Cheers.” Dolls lifted his beer slightly in her direction. 

“Okay, go!” Wynonna shouted with excitement. 

Nicole popped the tab on her beer and dropped her head back as she put her mouth over the newly made hole to quickly take in the bitter beverage. The quick intake of the ice-cold drink nearly gave her a brain freeze causing her to clench her eyes and make a scrunched face while she tried to catch her breath. She thought people were laughing at her poor shot gunning skills but when she opened her eyes, she realized that they were laughing at Waverly whose tank top was now soaked in beer. 

She felt heat rush to her cheeks as her eyes instantly landed on Waverly’s now nearly see-through skintight top. She watched as Waverly hopelessly tried wiping away the beer and soon noticed all the guys ogling at the poor girl. She couldn’t be mad, because she was just gawking herself, but she didn’t want anyone else looking at her. She walked over towards Waverly, successfully blocking the guy’s line of sight. 

“I didn’t know that there were going to be wet t-shirt competitions.” Nicole smiled playfully and focused on keeping her eyes on Waverly’s face and nowhere else. 

“I’m really bad at shot gunning beers.” Waverly said with a pout as she tried unsticking her top from her body. 

“My sweatshirt is in the back of your car if you want to change into that.” 

“Oh my God, you’re a life saver. I would hug you but I’m kind of sopping wet.” She motioned down her body and Nicole couldn’t help following her gesture, eyes accidentally falling on exposed cleavage. She quickly tried to correct herself, but her cheeks burned when she met eyes with Waverly again, proving her guilt. She saw the other girl’s cheeks turn pink as she gently cleared her throat.

“I’m going to go—” she motioned towards the car.

“Yeah, cool.” Nicole replied quickly. 

She watched her walk away and hoped she didn’t make her feel uncomfortable. 

“Hey Haught, the boys want to do another shotgun.” 

Nicole just stared at Dolls. “Okay?”

“You’re one of the boys now! Come on!” 

Nicole bit back a smile. “Whatever you say.” She tried to play it off like it wasn’t a big deal, but she was really happy that she was being accepted into the group of guys on the team. Despite her reservations on drinking, she threw another back with a ‘Devils’ cheers. 

The rapid consumption of alcohol was already giving Nicole a strong buzz, so she grabbed one of the empty chairs next to the fire to get her bearings and plopped down. 

“You shotgun beers like a bitch.” 

Nicole looked over as Wynonna pulled up a chair next to her.

“I’m going to take the fact that I didn’t throw up as a win.” She finished with a burp that sounded like something was threatening to come out. 

“You sure about that, Haughtstuff?” Wynonna laughed. 

Nicole groaned.

“Here take this.” She offered a bottle of beer.

“No, I think I’m good for a while.” 

“Just take it.”

Nicole reluctantly took the bottle and looked down in surprise at the lack of weight. 

Wynonna leaned close to whisper, “Any minute now Chrissy is going to bring out a bottle of tequila demanding everyone take shots. Spit them in there.”

“Thank you.” She lifted the bottle like a toast, and they laughed after she took a fake drink. 

“Yeah, well, I can’t handle puke so I’m not holding your hair back for you.” 

“Noted.” 

She felt a swell in her chest at the sight of the Waverly emerging from the car wearing her sweatshirt. It was just a basic black hoodie from her old school that said, ‘Titans Football’ on the front and ‘Haught’ on the back with her number 15. It looked way better on Waverly than it ever had on her. 

Chrissy called for Waverly waving a bottle of tequila.

“Told ya.” Wynonna said. 

Nicole watched as Waverly took a shot followed by an adorably sour face. Nicole and Wynonna were Chrissy’s next victims. 

Wynonna grabbed a bottle of beer, “Don’t forget your chaser Haught.” 

They took back the shot and even though she spit the contents into her bottle, the taste of tequila on her tongue made her want to barf. She felt better about it when she noticed Wynonna making a very similar twisted face.

Holt sat on Nicole’s other side and started talking to her about football. She gladly took the distraction in hopes of avoiding another round of shots from Chrissy. 

Eventually everyone settled around the fire with their drinks. Nicole was disappointed when Chrissy asked Waverly to sit next to her and Perry, who she presumed was Chrissy’s boyfriend. If she couldn’t sit next to Waverly, at least she could steal glances from across the fire. Her opinion quickly changed when Bobo sat down next to Waverly and reached his arm around her shoulders. She watched as Waverly smiled and slid out from under his arm but continued talking to him. She couldn’t read her expression to know if she was enjoying his company or not. Nicole knew that nothing was going to happen between her and Waverly, but she still didn’t like seeing someone hit on her. That’s why she didn’t usually allow herself to form ‘harmless’ crushes on straight girls, because they were never harmless. 

It didn’t take long for the drinking games to begin. Nicole continued to ‘take drinks’ from her empty bottle after she discretely dumped out the tequila from earlier. 

“Let’s play never have I ever!” Chrissy suggested. 

“I’ll go first. Never have I ever kissed a girl.” She looked right at Nicole and smiled. 

She knew it was normal for people to be curious about her sexuality, so she wasn’t offended. She lifted her faux drink and brought it to her lips catching out of the corner of her eye Wynonna taking a drink as well.

“What girl have you kissed, Wy?!” Waverly said in shock. 

“Cleo.” She said nonchalantly. 

“You kissed my sister?” Holt spoke up. 

“What happens at soccer camp, stays at soccer camp.” Wynonna took another drink of her beer, clearly no longer spitting out alcohol, “until now.” She broke into laughter. 

“It wasn’t for me, though. Sorry, Red. It’s not going to happen.” She pat Nicole’s knee. 

Nicole shook her head. “What will I ever do? How will I move on?” she feigned disappointment. 

“I think I know some—”

“Okay who wants to go next?” Waverly cut her sister off. 

“This one will make you feel better Waves,” Wynonna continued, “Never have I ever slept with a woman.” She held her hands up to prove that she hadn’t done it. 

Nicole threw her head back and met Waverly’s eyes when her head was level. She was giving her a look she couldn’t quite read. 

“Haught tot, you dirty dog.” Wynonna said with a shove. 

Some of the guys started asking questions about lesbian sex to which Nicole quickly put a stop with a hand up. 

“Google it. I’m not going to go in depth about my sex life.” She awkwardly laughed. 

“Do you have a girlfriend?” The dark-haired girl with the lingering looks from earlier asked. 

“No, I’m not dating anyone.”

“You aren’t? I thought you were?” Waverly cut in.

“Why would you think that?” 

Chrissy gave Waverly an elbow to the rib. 

“Ugh, Waves! You are the least sneaky detective ever!” 

Nicole was now very confused. 

“We may have done a deep dive into your Instagram.” Chrissy explained. 

“Oh really?” Nicole smiled widely both at how cute Waverly’s pout was from being caught and finding out that she was interested enough in her to look through her Instagram. 

“And we may have found your girlfr-, apparently ex-girlfriend’s Instagram page with some steamy make out pics.” 

Nicole instantly felt self-conscious that they had seen those pictures. She tightly closed her eyes and brought her hand to cover her face. 

“Yeah, that’s my ex. Wow, you guys really did your research.” 

“Thanks!” Chrissy said proudly with a tilt of her head.

“Sooo, where can we find these make out pictures?” Bobo said. 

“Ew, Bobo. Don’t be creepy.” Chrissy gave him a disgusted look. 

That was the last never have I ever directed at Nicole. The rest were relatively mild and gave her the opportunity to get to know some of her new friends. The game soon sizzled out and the group entertained several conversations around the fire.

She assumed Waverly was embarrassed from earlier due to the fact that she wouldn’t look at her. If only she knew how many times Nicole searched her username ‘waves.favs’ on Instagram even though her profile was private and the only picture she could see was her profile photo. Not to mention the only reason she found her Instagram was through a tagged photo on Chrissy’s Instagram because at the time she didn’t know Waverly’s last name. She pulled out her phone and searched the girl again but this time she finally clicked follow. She stared at Waverly and motioned with her phone until she caught her attention and looked down at her phone. Nicole assumed she saw the request because her face lit up with a smile and a light blush. 

Nicole smiled at her reaction and with a brief moment of bravery sent a quick text, ‘I think it’s only fair if I get to look at yours too ;)’. She looked back up at Waverly whose blush deepened, and she saw her typing a reply.

‘Would you believe me if I feigned innocence and said it wasn’t my idea?’ 

‘No’ 

She stared at Waverly as she looked up with a laugh and questioning shrug. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She yelled across the fire with a bewildered look and smile.

“I don’t know.” Nicole said with a playful tone. 

Nicole’s attention was taken away from Waverly as a very drunk brunette sat in her lap with an arm around her back.

“Hi, I’m Rosita.” She said with a slight slur. 

“Uh, hello.” Nicole responded with wide eyes. 

“I just wanted to introduce myself because you’re new and have nice teeth.” 

“I have nice teeth?” Nicole was starting to chuckle at the odd alcohol induced compliment.

“mmmmhmm” she squinted and nodded causing her to lose her balance and begin to fall backwards. 

Nicole wrapped her arms around the girl in order to stop her from falling to the ground. The girl giggled and grabbed onto Nicole in return.

“Ohhh, you’re really strong too.” 

“Um, you’re very nice, but I think you’ve had a little too much to drink and maybe we should think about getting you home?” Nicole looked around to flag down one of the girl’s friends to help. She briefly caught Waverly giving Rosita an irritated look, but she walked in the opposite direction. Thankfully Chrissy saw Nicole’s look of distress and helped get Rosita onto something a little more stable. 

“Thank you.” Nicole directed towards Chrissy.

“Maybe we should all call it a night; it’s getting late anyways.” 

Chrissy contacted all of the designated drivers for the night to come pick them up, but Waverly insisted on driving her car home.

“Are you sure you’re okay to drive?” Nicole didn’t want Waverly to feel pressured to driving if she didn’t feel comfortable. 

“Yeah, most of my beer ended up on my shirt and I only had one shot of tequila over an hour ago. I’m fine.” 

“Okay, I just wanted to make sure you’re good.”

“Thanks.” She gave her a tight-lipped smile.

The drive back to ‘the homestead’ was loud due to Wynonna drunkenly singing to the radio in the front seat. She was shocked that Dolls was able to sleep next to her in the back. Other than the singing, there was no conversation between any of them. Nicole wasn’t sure why, but she felt like Waverly was upset with her for some reason. 

When they got back Wynonna and Dolls quickly snuck into the house with Waverly lingering behind.

“Thanks again for inviting me. I had a lot of fun.” 

“Yeah, well I’m glad you met some new people.” She said as she looked at the ground and fiddled with the cuffs of her sweatshirt. “Oh, I’ll wash this right away and get it back to you.” 

“No rush. It looks better on you anyway.” 

Waverly smiled shyly and wrapped her arms around herself. 

“Anyway, have a good night. Text me some time?” Nicole asked as she began to get into her car.

“Definitely.”

Nicole smiled as she drove away. She felt better about how Waverly was acting once she saw her beautiful smile. She must have been overthinking things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you I would post the next part soon! haha. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you all so much for reading and taking the time to provide feedback. I really enjoy interacting with you all. Thanks again for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Waverly smiled down at her phone as she typed out another text to Nicole, something they had been doing back and forth ever since Friday night. Any reservations she once had about exploring her newly discovered feelings went out the door when she found out Nicole was single. Every text felt exciting even if they were all innocent, mostly just questions to get to know each other. Waverly wondered if this is how other girls felt when they texted a guy they liked. If this was how it was supposed to feel. 

When she pursued guys in the past there was only mild excitement or interest in talking to them. She liked the chase and being wanted by a boy but didn’t actually want to be with them, soon losing interest once they actually started dating. She didn’t understand why Champ wanted to hang out or talk all the time and constantly found him annoying, but maybe that’s because it was all wrong. 

She wanted to talk to Nicole all the time, know everything about her, and couldn’t wait to see her again. It’s not like Waverly was doing this for the attention or the need to be wanted, she was genuinely drawn to the other girl. She wondered if Nicole was thinking about her to the same extent. 

“You know it’s like 100 degrees outside? You probably don’t need to be wearing a sweatshirt.” 

“Yeah, well mom has the AC really high so I’m cold.” 

Wynonna sunk into the couch next to her with a look of disbelief at her sister’s weak attempt to justify wearing Nicole’s sweatshirt. 

“Mmhmm, whatever you say. Put on our show. I need to know what happens after she touched the evil goo.” She said directing her attention towards the TV in front of them. 

Once again, they were sucked into their new obsession; glued to the couch as they watched episode after episode. They were so entranced by the TV that they didn’t hear the knock at the front door. 

“Hi Chrissy, it’s so good to see you.”

Waverly whipped her head around to see her mother greeting her friend. She quickly pulled the sweatshirt off in a panic and shoved it behind the couch cushion. 

“You warmed up quick.” Wynonna mumbled. 

Waverly glared at her sister as she stood to head towards Chrissy. 

“Chrissy, hey!” 

“Hey Waves, I was bored and decided to come over. I hope that’s okay.”

“Oh Chrissy, you know you’re always welcome here.” Her mom answered for her. “Do you want to stay for dinner? I was just about to start making some food.” 

“I’d love to, thank you.” 

Chrissy followed Waverly over to the couch where Wynonna had turned off their show and put on some crime documentary probably to tune out the gossip. Wynonna and Chrissy were friends, but Chrissy was more of Waverly’s friend while Wynonna was closer with Mercedes. 

They compared schedules for their first semester and talked about cheer and what extracurriculars they were going to do, but Waverly’s mind was somewhere else. 

“Who do you keep texting? Is it Bobo?” Chrissy said with an assuming smile. 

“Bobo? Why would it be Bobo?” 

“I saw Bobo drooling all over you Friday night. Spill!” Chrissy pried. 

“There’s nothing to tell.” Waverly shrugged. “I’m not interested.”

“I know it’s a little weird because he’s good friends with Champ, but he’s had a crush on you forever!” 

“I don’t know… he’s just not my type I guess.”

“Not to mention his stupid nickname, can you imagine getting hot and heavy ‘Oh Bobo’” Wynonna said in an exaggerated sexy voice. “So not sexy.” 

Waverly laughed at her sister.

“Okay, but you could just call him Robert! He’s handsome. You should give him a shot.” 

Waverly knew it was a hard no but didn’t want to fight her friend on it any further. 

“I don’t know, Chris. We’ll see I guess.” 

“You’re definitely going to have options though. Every guy in school is going to be going after you now that you’re single. I can’t wait to vicariously live through you and be your wing woman. I’m actually kind of jealous of all the flirting and fun you get to have.”

“Oh, don’t act like you aren’t smitten with Perry.” Waverly rolled her eyes and playfully smacked her friend’s arm. 

“I know, he’s pretty great.” She lifted her shoulders in excitement with a bright smile. “I’ve already picked out my dress for homecoming that he’s going to match and ordered my mum.” 

“Already? That’s so far away.”

“Not really Waves, it’s in like a month and a half.” 

“I guess so… I just haven’t thought about it much. I’ve just been focusing on planning the pep rally for next Friday.” 

She wasn’t totally lying; when she wasn’t overanalyzing her feelings, she had been choreographing the cheer routine. She had worked so hard to become captain of the cheer squad and she wanted the pep rally to be perfect. 

“Eek! I’m so excited for this football season. I’m sure the routine is going to be great, Waves. Wait so if you aren’t texting Bobo, who is it? Another guy?”

It seemed like Chrissy was way more excited about Waverly being single than Waverly was. 

“No, I’m just talking to Nicole. Umm.. answering some questions about school starting tomorrow.” 

She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to cover up and explain why she was talking to a new friend.

“Oh my God I can’t believe I forgot to tell you!”

“What?” Waverly instantly felt anxious.

“So, you know how I said that I get gay vibes from Rosita?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, guess who wouldn’t shut up about Nicole the whole drive home the other night.” 

“That doesn’t mean she’s gay. Nicole is new, so she’s kind of a hot topic around here.” Waverly tried justifying Rosita’s interest in her new crush. 

“Um, she said, or rather mumbled, and I quote, ‘she’s sexy’ and ‘I would let her do things to me’” 

Waverly felt a mix of jealousy and anger bubbling beneath her skin but tried to not let it show on her face. 

“Wow, okay. But what about John? They dated forever.”

“I don’t think dating a guy means she isn’t interested in girls.” Wynonna gave her a pointed look.

“Right...” 

Waverly instantly felt the dread of losing something that wasn’t even hers. Anyone with eyes knew that Rosita was gorgeous, how could Nicole not? And if Rosita made her move, Waverly was sure her crush would be taken away from her. She didn’t know what to do because she wasn’t ready to act on her feelings. She hoped that outside of Rosita’s drunken confidence, she wouldn’t act on her feelings yet either. 

“I casually tried bringing it up yesterday by asking if she liked anyone, but she said no. I don’t think she remembers talking about Nicole and I didn’t want to push her to talk about something she wasn’t ready to. Hopefully she will confide in us when she’s ready.”

“And you’re cool with Rosita liking girls?” Waverly asked more for herself.

“Duh Waves, I’m not homophobic. Do you have a problem with it?” She frowned at her friend.

“No! Not at all. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.”

“I totally support her! And no homo, but Nicole is hot. I ship it.” Chrissy said, “I think they would make an attractive couple. Even though Rosita was a drunken mess, they looked pretty cute together Friday night.”

Waverly’s mind flashed to the image of Rosita falling over Nicole in her lap and she felt sick.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom.” Waverly stood and walked away quickly. She just wanted this conversation to end.

Not actually needing to go, she sat down on the edge of the tub and looked through her texts with Nicole. She wondered if Nicole was texting Rosita too. Waverly didn’t assume that Nicole liked her more than a friend, but she thought that she could make it happen. She wanted things to happen naturally and grow close to the other girl as they hung out more and got to know each other and when the time was right, she would make her move and confess her feelings. Now everything felt compromised and that taking her time walking towards Nicole was no longer an option when someone else was running. 

When she felt like enough time had passed, she returned to the girls on the couch. She was grateful to hear that the conversation had moved on to something else even if it was Wynonna talking about ‘watching Dolls’ fine ass running up and down the field’. 

“Speaking of Dolls, you need to be more careful.” Waverly looked back to make sure her mother wasn’t listening. “Dad almost caught him sneaking out yesterday morning.” She finished with a whisper. 

“But it was soooooo worth it.” She said with a smug grin. 

“If you guys get caught one of these times and our curfew or car privileges are taken away, I’m going to be so mad at you.” Waverly grumbled. 

“Okay, chill out! We’ll be more careful.” Wynonna threw her hands up in defense. 

Waverly didn’t understand why Wynonna would be so risky sneaking Dolls into her room at night to do who knows what. She never tried hiding Champ or any other boy in her room, it never seemed worth it. 

\--

Waverly could barely sleep the night before; she was so excited to start her senior year and maybe some of that excitement was due to the fact that she was going to see Nicole again. She woke up extra early to make sure the outfit she picked out the night before, her make up, and the waves in her hair looked just right on her first day. A little more pressure than usual knowing she was trying to look her best for a certain someone.

Wynonna was a little less enthused about school starting, mainly because of the whole waking up early part. Waverly banged on her sister’s door as she walked by on her way to the kitchen in hopes of waking the sleeping girl. Her parents were already at the table drinking their morning coffee. 

“Good morning!” She said to announce her presence. 

“Morning honey, you look very nice today.” Her mother smiled at her over her mug. 

“Thanks!”

Wynonna stumbled into the kitchen slowly scratching her head and blinking the sleep from her eyes. 

“Ughhhhhh. Do I have to go school?”

“Yes.” Their father said without looking up from his tablet. 

“You love torturing me.”

Their mother stood to pull both girls into a hug, “Oh Ward I can’t believe our babies are seniors. How did this happen?” 

“I think the handful of gray hairs I have is a testament to how that happened.” He finally looked up at them. 

“Oh, don’t be like that.” 

He smiled and stood to join their group hug.

“I can’t breathe.” Wynonna wined.

“We just love you girls so much.” Their mother squeezed them even tighter. 

“No, really, running low on oxygen.” Wynonna continued to complain. 

Their mother gave into Wynonna’s request, releasing them from her arms with a sigh. 

“Okay I’m going to head to work. I’ll see ya’ll tonight.” 

Waverly watched as her mother grabbed her purse and gave her dad a peck on the cheek before heading towards the door.

“And Wynonna, go get ready for school. Don’t make your sister late you know how much that upsets her.” 

“Fine!” 

“Ya’ll have a good day!” 

Once the door shut behind her mother Wynonna returned to her room while Waverly began making her favorite morning smoothie: kale, banana, 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder, peanut butter, ice, and almond milk. Wynonna appeared 5 minutes later looking like she spent an hour getting ready even though she just rolled out of bed. Waverly was always annoyed at the little effort Wynonna needed to put into her casually flawless look. 

“Let’s get this over with.” Wynonna huffed as she headed out the door. 

Waverly grabbed her bag and said a quick goodbye to her dad before following her sister.

“Have a good first day girls!” He yelled as the door was shutting.

Once they pulled into a parking spot Waverly turned off the engine and looked over at her sister with a smile. 

“It’s our senior year.” 

“Don’t get all sappy on me.” 

“Come on, Wy. This is exciting!” She tried getting her sister into the spirit. 

“Okay, okay. I’m a little excited.” Wynonna gave her a small smile. 

“I’m so glad we’re here together.” Waverly said sincerely, thinking about how grateful she was to have her sister by her side.

“Me too.” Wynonna reached over for a hug but quickly pulled back, “Okay let’s get going. I want to make out with Dolls a little before first period.”

Typical Wynonna, never letting a nice moment last. 

“Wynonna! At school? Gross!” 

“What? We have our secret spots. I’ll tell you where all the good ones are so you can take your new girl crush there.”

Waverly smacked her sister’s arm. 

“Too soon?”

“Ugh, I’ll see you later.” 

While caught off guard by how blunt Wynonna was, Waverly was glad her sister felt so comfortable casually mentioning the feelings she had for Nicole. 

The moment Waverly entered the school an honest smile was plastered on her face that would be there all day; she was so happy to be back. She said hi to everyone she walked by, hugging some friends she hadn’t seen in a while on her way to the cafeteria where everyone hung out in the mornings before classes started. She sat down next to Chrissy who was sitting at a table with a group of their friends. As they all caught up, Waverly avoided making eye contact with Bobo who was pretty much burning holes into her with his stare. 

With 5 minutes before first period, she eagerly excused herself to go find her locker. Once she navigated her new combination, she unloaded her backpack and pulled out her planner and a notebook. She headed in the direction of her first class but was stopped in her tracks as an adorable red head glaring at a school map caught her eye. 

“You look a little lost.”

The look on Nicole’s face instantly softened when she looked up.

“Waverly.” She smiled, “It’s so good to see you.” 

“Happy first day!” The excitement of school and seeing her crush propelled Waverly towards Nicole into a crushing hug. 

Waverly hugged all of her other friends, so that was okay, right? In their brief contact Waverly inhaled Nicole’s scent, an intensified version of what she had been smelling when she wore her new favorite sweatshirt. What she determined to be bergamot and sandalwood smelled so good directly on her. Their hug felt comfortable and right, she wanted to stay pressed against the other girl’s body but didn’t want to linger so she quickly pulled back.

“Sorry, I’m a hugger.” She shrugged with a smile, beginning to feel her cheeks warm at the sight of Nicole’s flushed face.

“No, hugs are great.” Nicole reassured her with a smile.

“Need help finding your first class?” Waverly pointed at the map the other girl was holding. 

“Yes please, I have no idea where I’m going.” Nicole admitted as she handed Waverly her schedule. 

“You should have texted me.” 

“Yeah, well I didn’t want to bother you.” She watched Nicole grab the back of her neck and briefly look down.

“Don’t be silly, you could never bother me.” She smiled at the other girl and looked down at her schedule. “Mmmm, Chemistry first period... Follow me, I’ll take you there.” 

“Thank you! I owe you one.” 

“Actually, I think I’m still indebted to you for saving me from sitting in a soaked top all of Friday night.” 

“It was the least I could do.” 

They shared a smile and continued to walk in silence as Waverly was greeted by more of her fellow classmates. 

“You’re quite a popular girl around here.”

“Oh, ya know. It’s all in the ‘smile and wave’.” 

Waverly stopped walking in front of the Chemistry classroom. 

“I can see the appeal.” 

Waverly’s brain short circuited at what she thought might have been flirting so instead of responding like a normal person would she just continued to smile at the other girl.

“So, uh, is this my class?” Nicole pointed towards the room they stopped in front of. 

“Right, yeah, sorry. Yes, this is where your class is. Actually, I think Wynonna has Chemistry first period too.” She looked around to try and find her sister. “Hopefully she won’t be late. We came to school together, so she’s here somewhere.” 

“Oh, cool. Thanks again for getting to me the right class.” 

“Anytime! Text me if you can’t find your next class or just to say hey, or whatever. Or not.” Waverly shrugged and instantly felt dumb for the words fumbling out of her mouth. 

Nicole chuckled, “I’ll text you later.” 

Waverly watched Nicole walk into her class as she glanced at the clock on the wall and realized how late it was. She hurried towards her first class of the day, European History. As she turned a corner, she saw Wynonna walking in her direction. 

“You’re going to be late too, baby girl?”

“I’m not going to be late.” 

Just as she spoke the bell rang to signal the start of first period.

“Fudge nuggets.” Waverly spat out as she picked up her pace.

“New year, new you. I like bad Waverly!” Her sister yelled from over her shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I have been writing a lot lately, I fully intended on holding off on posting as soon as I finish a chapter so I have material to post if in the future if for some reason I don't have as much time to write, but apparently I have no chill. So here I am, posting the next chapter already haha. 
> 
> I still can't believe that people are not only reading what I'm writing, but enjoying it! Thank you so much for all the feedback and I hope you continue to like what I'm putting out there. As always any feedback, good or bad, is appreciated and thank you for taking the time to read my story!


	9. Chapter 9

Nicole scanned the classroom filled with two person desks and chose a seat at an empty table when she didn’t recognize anyone. She glanced around at the students, some of which were staring in her direction, so she decided to look straight ahead. The white board at the front of the room read ‘Mrs. Jensen’ who she assumed was the person sitting at the desk facing the wall across from the door. 

The bell rang and the voices around her began to quiet. “I’ll be with you in just a moment.” The teacher finally spoke but continued to examine her computer screen. 

A slow movement at the door caught Nicole’s eye. It was Wynonna’s head peeking around the corner. Once she spotted Nicole her face took on an animated smile as she pointed at her but quickly brought her finger to her lips as a signal to be quiet. Nicole bit back laughter as she watched Wynonna comically tip toe towards the empty seat beside her in an attempt to sneak past their teacher. 

“Ms. Earp. Late on the first day.” 

Wynonna froze mid step as she scrunched her face. “You’ll never believe the –” 

“Save it, Wynonna. I’ll let it slide this first day only. Find a seat.” 

“Smooth.” Nicole whispered at Wynonna took the seat next to her. 

“I try.” She came back with a forced smile. 

“Okay class, good morning.” Their teacher began, now standing at the front of the room. 

“Welcome to Chemistry. My name is Mrs. Jensen, and I will be your teacher. There’s a lot of material that we’ll be covering this semester, so I’m going to hand out your textbook and the syllabus and we’ll go over some basic course information.” She licked her fingers to unstick the stack of papers. “and then get started on learning some of the material today so be prepared to take notes.”

She passed out the syllabus to each student as well as a hefty chemistry textbook while they took out their supplies. 

“Hey, any chance I can borrow a piece of paper for notes?” Wynonna said with a charming voice. 

“Sure.” Nicole carefully ripped a page from her notebook and handed it to the other girl.

“Thanks, red. Oh, and a pencil?”

“Really? Did you bring anything?” Nicole finally realized the other girl had nothing with her but a leather jacket. 

“How was I supposed to know we were going to take notes. It’s the first day! We didn’t take notes the first day last time.” 

Nicole handed over a pencil with a confused look.

“You’ve taken this class before?” 

“I may have failed it last year, so I have to take it again.” Wynonna shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not my fault that there are so many shiny, fun, and distracting things in the lab.” 

Their attention was brought back towards the front of the room when their teacher began speaking again. 

“Half of your grade in this class will be from homework, quizzes, and tests, and the other half will be from lab which is graded upon completion. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you approach it. There will be 5 labs, each worth 10% of your grade. If you successfully complete all of the labs you automatically get 50% of your grade meaning if you don’t turn in any other homework in the class or do any of the quizzes or tests, you will still get a 50% in the class. If you miss a lab or perform a lab incorrectly to the point where it cannot be completed, you will lose that 10% of your grade. If you miss a lab and get 100% on everything else in the class, you will end up with a 90% in the class. Does that make sense?”

The class nodded in response.

“I want to make sure you understand how important the lab portion of this class is. If you come prepared and follow instructions, you shouldn’t have any issues. Take a few minutes to get to know the person beside you and exchange contact information as you may want to meet outside of class for homework. This will be your lab partner for the semester.” 

Wynonna must have been able to see the worry in Nicole’s face after finding out they would be lab partners. 

“Don’t worry. If anything, I think the fact that I’ve taken this class before is an advantage. We’re going to crush it.” She said with a wink. 

“Right.” Nicole let out a breath and began to tap her pen on the desktop as she thought about how science was her weakest subject. She was sure they were doomed. 

The bell rang at the end of class and Wynonna handed the pencil back to Nicole.

“Keep it. You’ll probably need it for the rest of the day. You know, we are in school.” She gave her a teasing look.

“I’m not convinced I’ll need it, but thanks.” Wynonna shrugged and put the pencil in her back pocket. “Where’s your next class? Need help finding it?” 

One thing Nicole was beginning to like about Wynonna was how she could go from a total jokester who never took anything seriously to someone who was genuine and caring. 

“Second period is actually my study hall, which I know is in the cafeteria, but since it’s my first day I have a meeting with the guidance counselor. Where do I go for that?”

“Ugh, yuck, the guidance counselor?” Wynonna asked with raised eyebrows and an exaggerated finger towards her mouth with her tongue out.

“Great. That bad?” 

“No, it’s a sap fest in there and everyone loves her, but anytime I’m called to her office it’s usually not good.” Wynonna rolled her eyes. “To get there you have to go into the main office, that’s probably where you got your schedule – right inside the front doors you can’t miss it. Tell the front desk you have an appointment with the guidance counselor, and they’ll walk you back to her office. My class is the other direction, so I’ll see you later.” 

“Oh okay. Thank you!”

Wynonna’s attention was already on something else as she walked away.

Nicole headed towards the office and scanned the faces of the students on her way. Normally she would scan the halls for cute girls, but she was looking for one girl in particular who she unfortunately didn’t find before reaching her destination. 

A friendly woman from the front desk walked Nicole down a short hallway ending at a closed door labeled ‘Guidance Counselor’. 

“Just knock before you go in.”

“Thank you.” Nicole smiled at the woman as she walked away. 

She knocked lightly and waited with her hands on her backpack straps until she heard a faint ‘come in’ from the other side. She opened the door to a familiar shining face sitting at a desk. 

“Nicole! It is so good to see you again. I’ve been hearing your name quite a bit around my house. Please, sit down!” She said with a smile that was now mirrored on Nicole’s face. 

“Mrs. Earp, hi.” She said as she sat down in the chair across from the woman.

“It’s just Michelle, remember? I prefer to be on a first name basis with all of my students to make our relationship a little more casual and open. I want you to feel comfortable talking with me.” 

“Okay.” Nicole said as she nodded her head, half listening while she looked at the pictures the woman had on her desk. A family photo that looked recent sat next to a picture of Waverly posing against a brick wall, hair falling beautifully over her face and a picture of Wynonna captured mid laugh sitting on staircase. 

“The girl’s senior pictures just came in. Didn’t they turn out great?” Mrs. Earp looked proudly at the photos. 

“Yeah, they really did.” Nicole stared at the pictures a moment longer before meeting the woman’s eyes again. “I’m surprised Wynonna didn’t tell me you were the guidance counselor; she gave me directions to get here.” Nicole laughed.

“Well, that’s the thing about working at your daughter’s high school. They don’t like to talk about it or acknowledge that I’m here.” She smiled honestly and chuckled. “We try our best to have a professional relationship at school.” 

“Enough about my girls, I want to get to know more about you. As your guidance counselor I’m here for you when it comes to your classes, your future plans, college applications, and I’m also here to talk to you about anything else going on in your life. I’m both an academic and emotional resource for you, Nicole, so I want you to know that you can come to me for anything.” 

“Okay.” Nicole wasn’t sure what to say so she just smiled and nodded. 

“Do you have any questions or concerns about the classes you’re signed up for right now?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Good! Since you’re a senior, I want you to be thinking about your future. Have you thought about what you want to do after graduation? Are you planning on attending college?” 

“I definitely want to go to college. I’m not sure exactly where though. I always thought I would go to a school in California, but now that I’m here I don’t know if I would have to pay out of state tuition.” 

“If a school in California is where you would like to attend, typically you just have to provide proof that you lived there for most of your life. I wouldn’t anticipate you having any trouble getting in-state tuition. If you don’t mind me asking, how do you plan on paying for school?”

“My parents have saved up some money for me, but I’ll also have to take out some loans.”

“Have you considered either academic or athletic scholarships?” 

“If I’m being realistic, I wouldn’t be able to get an academic scholarship because my grades are pretty average and I had some soccer recruits looking at me at my old school, but now that I moved…” Nicole shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m sure things have been really hard for you lately. Moving before your senior year and possibly losing out on some scholarship opportunities back home, but I have a good feeling about you, Nicole. I think you’re going to make some waves here and catch a lot of people’s attention. Purgatory High brings in a lot of recruiters for both football and soccer, so I don’t want you to lose hope.” 

Michelle’s words felt sincere and it was nice to have someone else looking out for her future. College was something she had pushed to the back of her mind since the move, not sure on what she wanted anymore or what her options were. 

“Thank you. I really appreciate that.” 

“I know it can all be overwhelming so if you have any questions, even the smallest ones, you can come to me. Okay?” 

Nicole smiled. “Yeah, okay.”

“Is there anything else you want to talk about? Your move here, making friends, football?”

Nicole was really happy Michelle was so willing to talk to her and get to know her, but she didn’t really feel comfortable enough to talk about the personal issues buzzing around in her head. 

“Ummm… Nothing I can think of right now.” Nicole shrugged her shoulders. 

“I’m just going to be straightforward with you, Nicole.” 

Nicole swallowed hard and suddenly felt worried, sweat beginning to sprout from the back of her neck. 

“This is a small town and word travels fast. Not to mention I have a constant flow of teenagers through my house who think I can’t hear them when they’re talking.” She smiled and waved her hand before beginning to dig through her desk.

Nicole began to internally panic, illogically assuming that somehow Michelle knew about her rapidly developing feelings for the woman’s daughter. 

“I just want you to know that I fully support you and who you are…” She trailed off attention focused on what she was searching for.

Nicole was now more confused than panicked and had no idea where this conversation was going so she continued to stare at the woman in front of her. 

“Ah! There it is!” Michelle said pulling out a miniature rainbow flag with a wide smile. 

“I just want you to know that I am an ally, and I am here to support you.” She said as she waved the little flag around. 

A smile slowly started to form on Nicole’s face at the sweet woman across from her. Both from how sweet the woman was and from the humor she found in the whole situation. 

“That’s very nice of you, thank you.” 

She had never had someone go so much out of their way to make sure she was comfortable and accepted.

“I’m sure that being a part of the LGBTQ community is not easy, especially going somewhere new, and it’s important for you to know that this is a safe space. There are a lot of good kids here at this school, but if anyone gives you any problems let me know. We have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying.” 

“I will, thank you.” 

Michelle smiled warmly at her, “Well, I don’t want to take up all of your second period so I’ll let you go and get a feel for what study hall will be like. If you need anything, please reach out okay, hon?” 

Nicole thanked her again and headed out of her office. She was really happy she met with the other woman. She made her feel safe and accepted, like she belonged there.

Nicole walked down the quiet empty hall on the way to the cafeteria, passing by classrooms filled with students until she passed by one that was empty except for one student that caught her eye. She stopped and backed up to get a better look through the window on the door of classroom. 

Waverly sat at a desk alone in the room, lost in something she was looking at on her laptop. Nicole thought it wouldn’t hurt to stop in and say hi as she began to turn the handle of the door.

“Miss, why are you in the hall? You should be in class.”

Nicole looked behind her to see an older man frowning. 

“Um... I’m new here… I’m just trying to find the study hall.”

The man grumbled something as he continued to approach her, “This isn’t the place.” He said as he stood in front of the door she was about to enter. 

“Study hall is in the cafeteria, keep walking down this hall and take a left, then another left.” 

Nicole looked once more at the girl through the window, still dialed into what she was looking at, before she continued walking. 

“Thanks.”

She was disappointed she didn’t get to talk to Waverly again and her mood only worsened when she discovered Champ was in her study hall. She recognized a few other guys from the team bonding dinner and one of the cheerleaders she met Friday, Rosita. 

Her next few classes were fairly uneventful and at the end of her fourth period she headed towards the cafeteria again for lunch as she checked her phone for missed text messages. A few from old friends, and one that made her smile: 

Waverly :) : (apple emoji) (pizza emoji) (eggplant emoji) ????

Nicole brought her eyebrows together and laughed. “eggplant?” she muttered to herself. 

Nicole: ?????  
Nicole: You’re either hungry orrrrrr…?  
Waverly :) : Or?   
Nicole: (eggplant emoji) ?  
Waverly :) : (monkey covering eyes emoji) I was trying to ask you if you have lunch this period (cry laugh emoji).   
Nicole: (cry laugh emoji) On my way now.  
Waverly :) : Sit with me? 

Nicole eagerly began typing a response when she crashed into someone because her eyes had been glued to her phone. 

“Sorry!” 

Nicole looked up at the sound of Waverly’s voice and watched her pick her phone off the ground that she just dropped, not yet realizing who she ran into. 

“I was just about to text you back; you didn’t need to hit me!” Nicole teased and watched the other girl quickly look towards her in surprise which melted into a warm smile. 

“How’s your first day going?” 

“Classes have been okay so far and I had a meeting with the guidance counselor.” 

“Oh God, she didn’t do anything embarrassing did she?”

“Nah.” Nicole waved her hand, “she just brought out a rainbow flag and told me she was an ally.” 

Waverly stopped with a look of terror.

“She did not.” she said in disbelief, embarrassment clear on her face.

Nicole couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. “She did… but it was sweet. Your mom is really nice.” 

She squeezed Waverly’s shoulder in reassurance, which was just a poor excuse to touch her, something she had been thinking about since their hug that morning. 

Nicole was normally a flirtatious person who didn’t think twice about being forward and putting her hands on a girl she liked. Not in an aggressive or unwanted way, but in a way to let them know she was purposefully trying to be closer with them.

With Waverly she felt like she was in middle school again, where looking at her crush from across the room was a big deal and just the thought of physical contact made her nerves build. When Waverly hugged her that morning, she felt a rush that she would normally get from a kiss or something more. The electricity from merely touching the girl was exhilarating. 

Maybe it was all so exciting because Waverly was straight so every look, conversation, or touch that was borderline more than friendly was a dangerous game of testing the waters. She knew these intense feelings over small things like this were setting her up for heartbreak when, inevitably, her crush goes nowhere. But for now, she would relish in the feeling. 

“When I left my meeting with your mom, I saw you in class by yourself. I was going to stop in and say hi but some grumpy guy caught me.” 

“Oh, Mr. Clootie, he’s the history teacher that’s overseeing my independent study. He is super grumpy.” She laughed. “But he ended up sleeping through most of second period which was great so I could work without being interrupted.” She shrugged with smile. 

“What’s the topic of your independent study?”

“Ancient cultures and languages.” 

“Wow.”

“I know, super boring and lame.” 

“I was actually going to say impressive.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah, I like smart girls.” She bumped shoulders with the other girl who was now blushing. 

Nicole was apparently very determined to push boundaries today. She took any opportunity she had to flirt with the girl, but she was mostly trying to make her feel proud of her intelligence, and not embarrassed like it seemed she was.

They continued their conversation as they waited in line for lunch. Once they grabbed their trays Nicole followed Waverly to a table where their friends sat. 

“Neighbor! Come sit by me!” Chrissy said as she pointed at an empty seat between her and Rosita. 

“Um, okay.” Nicole was disappointed there wasn’t a seat there for Waverly, but she didn’t let it show. 

She placed her tray on the table and watched Waverly pick a seat next to Wynonna. 

“Nicole, you remember Rosita?”

She looked over at the brunette who was glaring at Chrissy. 

“Yeah of course, she thinks I have great teeth.” Nicole said with an exaggerated smile and a laugh.

Rosita turned her attention towards Nicole with a red face and joined in her laughter. 

“Ughhhhhhhh, I’m so great at embarrassing myself.” She laughed and covered her face with her hand. 

“No no no. If anything, you made a memorable first impression.” 

“I think you’re just trying to make me feel better.”

“Is it working?” 

“A little.” She smiled shyly. 

“Good.” Nicole smiled and opened her milk carton before she began eating her food.

She could tell the Rosita’s eyes were on her often, but she didn’t look back. Her suspicion that she was hitting on her in her drunken state coming back. Not that it would mean anything if she was hitting on her. It was very common for straight girls to start flirting with her when they found out she was a lesbian. Nicole didn’t mind, it was fun and never went anywhere. She usually entertained it, but she really only wanted to flirt with one girl who was currently aggressively stabbing the food on her tray. 

“So Haught, have you seen any girls you like yet?” Dolls smirked at her. 

She suddenly felt self-conscious because all eyes were on her. Apparently, everyone was very curious to know the answer to the question. 

“Ouch!” Dolls glared at Wynonna. “What?” 

“Um, it’s the first day. I’ve just been focusing on getting to the right classes.” Nicole shrugged, “Not saying that the girls here aren’t very attractive.” She put her hands up in defense with a charming smile. 

“Ahhhh okay, okay.” Dolls said with a knowing tone. “We’ll talk about it at practice.”

“Whatever you say.” Nicole laughed and everyone went back to their conversations. 

She met the eyes of Waverly who was still staring at her and gave her a playful wink, causing the girl’s cheeks to redden as she rolled her eyes with a smile and looked down at her food. Nicole thought maybe she should cut back on the shameless flirting, but she couldn’t help trying to get a reaction out of her. 

The rest of the school day went by quickly and ended with the final ring to dismiss the students. Nicole hurried through the halls toward the locker room after she had spent too much time at talking with her teacher at the end of class. 

She looked at the piece of paper she picked up from the office that morning with her locker number and combination. She was a little worried about the locker room situation. She didn’t want all the girls to think she was checking them out just because she was a lesbian, even though Nicole’s eyes were stuck on the body of the girl who was standing next to her assigned locker, really not helping her case that she wouldn’t be checking out girls in the locker room. The girl was standing in her underwear and bra, head covered by her shirt as she struggled to remove it. Her skin was glowing with a tan, accentuating her toned legs and abs. 

“Chrissy, can you help me! I’m stuck!” 

Of course, it was Waverly. Nicole suddenly felt guilty for looking at the girl’s body and averted her gaze to the ground and tried not making eye contact with any of the many other girls in the room. 

“Nicole, hi!” Chrissy said in excitement as she came around the corner.

“Nicole?!” Waverly said in panicked voice as she took a step back, effectively losing her balance and falling backwards into Nicole. Her cheeks burned when she realized her hands were on Waverly’s bare skin while she was wearing nothing but her underwear and bra. 

“I’m so sorry.” Nicole said as she helped stabilize the girl on her feet. “Let me help you.”

“Oh, God.” Waverly laughed.

“I got you.”

She pulled at the shirt and helped navigate the girl’s elbows and shoulders out in order to free her from the material. 

“Good thing you’re not some guy, right?”

Nicole finished removing the shirt from Waverly, now face to face.

“Or this would be realllyy awkward.” 

Nicole could hear the pounding of her heart in her ears as they stared into each other’s eyes. 

“Waves, you’re such a hot mess.” Chrissy laughed at her friend. “Hurry up, I’ll meet you in the gym.”

Nicole quickly handed the top back to Waverly. “Sorry.”

“Thanks for helping me.” 

Nicole turned to smile at the other girl but quickly looked back at the ground, worried where her eyes might go again. 

Nicole set her gym bag on the ground in front of her locker and began dialing in the combination. She could see Waverly out of the corner of her eye changing into some short shorts and a tank top. 

Nicole grabbed a shirt and some shorts from practice and began to change her clothes. Still adamant on keeping her eyes glued in front of her and off Waverly. Neither of them spoke and she felt bad for grabbing Waverly and felt like she needed to apologize. She hoped Waverly didn’t think she grabbed her on purpose like that, especially after all of her flirting she had done earlier. Once she was certain Waverly was clothed, she turned to her.

“Hey sorry I grabbed you earlier. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything, you just kind of fell into me and I didn’t want you to fall.” 

“Woah, woah, woah, you can grab me anytime you want.” Wynonna walked up and put her arm around Nicole. 

“Wynonna, really?” Waverly scolded. “Nicole, you don’t have to apologize. Thanks for not letting me fall.”

“Wow, a true hero.” Wynonna looked at Nicole with fake awe. 

“Wynonna what are you doing here?” Waverly said with irritation. 

“Mercedes and I are going to the city to go shopping and grab dinner, so you’ll have to get a ride home from someone else. Sorry, baby girl.” 

“Ugh, fine.”

“I can give you a ride home.” Nicole jumped in probably a little too eagerly. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah, I don’t mind. I’m assuming we’ll get out of practice around the same time.”

“Okay.” She smiled at her. 

“Later losers.” 

Nicole glanced at the clock and it was almost time for practice. 

“Shit, I gotta get going. Meet here later?” 

“Sounds good!”

She put on some body spray quickly before throwing it in her locker and giving Waverly a wink as she jogged out the door, successfully making it to the field before practice started. 

“What took you so long Haught? Appreciating the view in the locker room?” 

The guys around them laughed at Perry’s comment. 

“Oh yeah, Chrissy looks really great.” Perry’s smile dropped but the rest of the guys laughed harder. 

“Dude, I’m totally joking.” Nicole laughed as she hit his shoulder and his smile returned as he punched her back. 

Nicole wasn’t worried about fitting in anymore. She received a lot of looks during the day at school, and there were still some guys on the team that didn’t seem to approve of her, but she was beginning to form a solid group of friends and she was finally starting to feel good about her senior year. 

Once they started, coach explained the structure of how each practice will run. Every day they will begin with stretches on the field as a team, then they will split into their separate groups for position specific drills, and at the end they will come together again for more group drills or scrimmage. 

The players spread out on the field as Doc began leading them through their stretches. He yelled the type of stretch and the team would count in unison. Nicole noticed the counting faltering and realized why when she looked towards the track and saw the cheerleaders also doing their stretches. She saw Waverly bent over, touching her toes and her mind instantly flashed back to seeing her figure in the locker room and swallowed hard.

“Boys, I think I need to remind you that as Purgatory High Blue Devils you represent not only the school, but us as coaches and it is very important that you act as respectful young men. This means, respecting the young women that are your peers.” Doc yelled across the field and paused. 

Nicole continued to watch as Waverly moved positions to stretch in a splits position. “Jesus.” Nicole whispered under her breath. 

“Haught, that goes for you too.” Doc said as he walked by. 

Nicole’s eyes shot to the ground and she began to sweat from embarrassment and the laughter of the guys around her.

“Everybody drop and give me twenty push-ups as a gentle reminder to respect women.”

Nicole looked at Dolls who was laughing and shaking his head at her as they got into position on the ground and began their push-ups.

“What’s so funny?”

“Dude, Waverly?” Dolls asked with surprise in his eyes. 

“What?” Nicole feigned innocence. 

“Not a chance. She’s too much of a good girl and uptight when it comes to dating.”

“I didn’t say anything about her.” Nicole huffed between pushups. 

“You didn’t have to, the laser beams coming from your eyes told me everything I need to know.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

They finished their push-ups and Dolls sympathetically put his hand on her shoulder. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell Wynonna about your sex eyes for her little sister.” 

Nicole rolled her eyes, “Yeah because there’s nothing to tell. You’re funny though!”

Nicole was deep in thought while they finished their stretches. She couldn’t believe she was being so obvious when she was checking out Waverly, especially at practice where the girl’s dad was. She hoped no one else followed her wandering eyes. 

When the team broke into groups she went with Doc and the rest of the special teams for drills and practice. He went over the kicking drills and the strict rules for how much and how often she could practice kicking in order to not wear down her leg and cause injury. She was actually relieved to have some restrictions put on her because otherwise she would push herself to her limits, which is why she has been injured so many times. 

“I don’t want you to do any kicking on Thursdays before game day. I want you to save your leg, okay? You’ll still meet for practice and do the stretching with the team and some basic drills or tackling drills, but it will mostly be a rest day for you.” 

“You want me to do tackling drills?” Nicole said as she scrunched her face. 

“You need to be prepared to take down a man on the return, is that going to be a problem for you?”

“No, not at all! They just didn’t let me at my old school, so I’m surprised is all.” 

“You made the team, and we aren’t going to treat you any differently than the boys. You were selected because you were the best, and we’re going to shape you to perform the best so we can win. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.” Nicole nodded with a smile.

She never thought about it before, but they did treat her differently because she was a girl at her old school. It wasn’t a bad different, but she didn’t do all of the same exercises or drills that the guys did. On a football team in small town Texas, she was treated more like an equal than when she was in California. It was definitely unexpected, but she was pleasantly surprised. 

“Okay everyone, head over to Jeremy and give him your measurements and sizes for your uniform and your gear before we meet up with the rest of the team.”

They jogged over to wear Jeremy was sitting on a bench and formed a line, Nicole at the back. When it was her turn she was met with one of the widest smiles she had ever seen.

“Hi! I’m Jeremy.” 

“Hey.” Nicole smiled at him as he handed her a form to fill out. 

“It’s so nice to have another queer person in Purgatory.” 

She looked up at him from the paper.

“Sorry, was that too forward?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s actually a relief knowing I’m not the only one.” She smiled at him again in reassurance. “I hope it hasn’t been bad for you here.”

“Purgatory isn’t as bad as you would think. Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of slurs thrown my way when I first came out, but there are a lot of good people here. This town may have a lot of hillbilly’s that are a little slow to change, but they have good hearts. You just have to give this place a chance, it may surprise you.”

“I think it already has. Thanks.” Nicole handed the now filled out form back to Jeremy. 

As practice ended Nicole headed towards the locker room and thought more about what Jeremy had said. When she first got to Purgatory, she made judgements about what she thought this town would be like and the people she thought she would meet. So far, she had been pleasantly surprised and nothing was what it seemed. 

She walked into the mostly empty locker room to see Waverly sitting by their lockers on her phone. Out of everything that had surprised her about Purgatory so far, Waverly was the biggest thing. It didn’t matter if she was straight and would never be more of a friend to Nicole, she was just glad to have met someone that made her feel so excited about everything, gave her something to look forward to and something that made her happy. 

“Hey sorry, I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long.” 

She looked up from her phone with a smile. 

“No, I just got here. Ready to go?” She hopped up.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.” Nicole smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!
> 
> I would have liked to post an update earlier, but for some reason I was really stuck mid-chapter for a while, so I started working on a future chapter. I was finally able to rub some brain cells together and get past whatever was blocking me from finishing it haha. Hopefully the text conversation wasn't too confusing, instead of trying to use some actual form of internet emoji which I'm sure I would mess up, I just explained them. Also, I used the name Mr. Clootie just to use a name from the show... he is not evil 😂 
> 
> Thanks again for reading this chapter! Let me know if you liked it or let me know if you didn't! I hope you all have a great week! 😁


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